


Not According to Plan

by EowynFauchelevent



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canada, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Autism, Autistic Cosette, College Roommates, Conflict, Cosette Fauchelevent & Jean Prouvaire Friendship, Eventual Romance, Frenemies, Friendship, Roommates, University, University Roommates, roommate conflict
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EowynFauchelevent/pseuds/EowynFauchelevent
Summary: Years after being adopted by Valjean, Cosette begins her first year of university. She has planned it all out perfectly and has the highest expectations. At least, until she meets her roommate... Modern AU (Set in Canada) Also on my Fanfiction.net account.





	1. Chapter 1

Cosette smiled as she finished hanging the last poster on the wall of her side of the dorm room. Everything was perfect. Her favourite stuffed animals were arranged neatly on her bed, which was made absolutely perfectly, her clothes were neatly folded in her dresser, and her supplies for class were all ready to go, three days early. It was Sunday, move in day, and classes wouldn't begin until Wednesday, so she was ahead of schedule on that, just the way she liked to be. Feeling a sudden twinge of nervousness, she glanced at the door again, wondering when her roommate would arrive.

She had been too anxious to go to her school's Facebook group for their year and try to find her roommate, so she had no idea who the girl would be. She hoped it would be someone nice and that they would get along.  _Just relax, Cosette,_  she told herself, taking a deep breath _._ _Even if you don't get along, you just have to make it to the end of exams in April and then never speak to her again. Just September to April... Only 8 months. And you're getting ahead of yourself, maybe you will get along and will end up being the best of friends, like Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked!_  She hoped that would be the case, only without the arguing at the beginning. She hated conflict.

Feeling a bit anxious again, she sat on her bed, playing with her chestnut hair, almost wishing that she hadn't decided to go to university in the first place, and wondering why she had insisted to her papa that she was fine and he could leave.  _Just try to relax, take deep breaths and think happy thoughts. You made it here. You worked hard. You deserve this and you can succeed, you've got the right support system-_  The sound of the door opening pulled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly jumped off the bed and quit playing with her hair, eager to make a good impression on her new roommate.

A thin yet muscular young woman with dark brown hair and dark eyes walked in, pulling a suitcase with her, and Cosette could see a few boxes in the hall behind her, presumably also belonging her.

"You must be my roommate," the woman commented, giving Cosette no more than a single, momentary glance.

Cosette nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully. Her roommate nodded in response, walking over to the other side of the room and leaving her suitcase by the bed before returning to the hallway to get her boxes. Cosette hoped that she wasn't being too awkward. "Would you like some help bringing your things in?"

"No, I've got it. Thanks though," the woman replied without even bothering to look. Cosette felt her heart sink slightly, but reminded herself that this didn't mean she didn't like her. It was move in day, her roommate was probably feeling as anxious as she was, especially since her family was nowhere to be seen.

She nodded, and turned her attention back to her own things. Was there anything she had missed? Something she could do to at least appear a bit occupied rather than awkwardly watch her roommate unpack? She soon found herself rearranging her pillows and stuffed animals for the third time, absentmindedly chewing on the left corner of her bottom lip as she did so. Should she introduce herself now or later? What would be more awkward? Did her roommate even want to know her? Swallowing the lump in her throat, she finished rearranging her bed, deciding to rip the band-aid off and introduce herself.

She took another breath and walked over to the other young woman, who had finished bringing her things in and was beginning to unpack. "We should probably get to know each other," she said shyly. The dark haired young woman looked up at her.

"Yeah, I guess we should," she replied after a moment.

"So, I'm Cosette," she said, smiling a bit. Her roommate froze, staring at her as if she had just grown a second head.

"What?"

"Uh, Cosette... That's my name. Cosette Fauchelevent." She bit her lip, the anxiety threatening overtake her again. Had she done something wrong by introducing herself? Why did her new roommate look ready to explode? "It's just a silly nickname though, my real name is Euphrasie... But no one ever calls me that..."

Her roommate's dark eyes were icy, and she seemed to be trembling. Cosette felt her stomach twist and flip, and she began to wonder if she should just walk away. Something about the icy stare felt uncomfortably familiar though, as if she had experienced it before.

"This cannot be happening," she heard her roommate mutter.

"I- is something wrong?" she asked nervously, resisting the urge to play with her hair again.

Her roommate stood up, crossing her arms, continuing to fix her with the same, icy stare. "You're seriously going to just stand there and act like you don't remember me?"

Cosette blinked, confused. "Remember you? Why would I-" she frowned, trying to think of how she could possibly know the young woman she was going to be sharing a room with. Is she mistaking me for someone else? I've never met her in my life, unless... She looked again, studying the other woman's dark hair, eyes, and freckled face, trying to place her. There was something a bit familiar, she had to admit, but it couldn't possibly be, could it?

Her roommate scoffed. "You always were dim. I can't believe this."

Cosette felt her heart sink. It was. "Éponine...?"

"Oh, so you do remember. Great."

Cosette took a small step back. How could this be possible? It had been over ten years since she had last seen Éponine, and she'd spent all of that time trying to get a new life since then. How could she be stuck sharing a room at university with her?

"Well, it looks like we're stuck together again," Éponine said dryly after a few moments. "Great..." Cosette wondered if she should be happy or disappointed that Éponine appeared to be as frustrated with the situation as she was.

"I- what a coincidence?" she stammered, her voice shooting up an octave. Her brain chose that moment to remind her that it was only Sunday afternoon and that classes didn't start until Wednesday, and Éponine was the only person at the entire university she had met so far. Her heart pounded in her chest so loudly she was certain that Éponine could hear it as well. She wished that she could drop dead.

"Yeah. Just lovely..."

"I- I'll just let you finish unpacking..." Cosette managed to squeak out before backing away, returning to her side of the room. It was an absolute nightmare.  _How is this even possible? This isn't even the same province we were in back then!_  She sighed, and tried to ignore the sound of her roommate's grumbling as the other woman finished unpacking. First year was clearly not going to go the way she'd planned and hoped.

* * *

"Will you stop pacing? You're giving me a headache! God, you're even more annoying now than you were when we were kids." Cosette cringed at Éponine's comment.

"I can't help it, it's just something I do when I'm nervous."

"Well do something else instead of being a pest."

Cosette bit her lip again, her teeth settling into the same spot in the bottom left corner of her lip that they always did, ignoring the feeling of guilt that came with the realization that it had become such a habit in favour of the slight comfort it provided. Taking a deep breath, she quit the pacing, slumping onto her bed and hugging her pillow, carelessly sending a few of her neatly arranged stuffed animals onto the floor of the dorm room. Beady, empty black eyes stared up at her from the floor. Adjusting slightly, she covered her face with the pillow. This is officially the worst day ever.

"Oh, hi Marius!" Éponine's voice sounded cheerier than Cosette had thought possible. "You're all moved in? That's great! Want to meet up? No, I'm not busy at all, just hanging alone in my room. Yeah, I've met my roommate." Éponine moved past Cosette's side of the room towards the door. Cosette pulled the pillow closer to her face. "She's the worst so far, I doubt you'd like her..." Éponine's voice trailed off as she closed the door behind her.

So, Éponine had at least one friend at the school already. Cosette contemplated getting up and following her to investigate, curious about who could be friends with someone like Éponine, but decided against it. Whatever had made Éponine hate her when they had been children clearly hadn't gone away. The hatred appeared to be as strong as ever.

Sighing, she pulled the pillow away from her face.  _Maybe I should just go out to the common area and try to meet people,_  she wondered as she got up, picking the stuffed animals off the floor and fixing her bed. _It's at least worth a try._  A knot twisted in her stomach at the thought though, and she sat back on her bed, pulling her phone out. She had a text from her papa, asking if she was alright and if her roommate had arrived yet. For the second time in fifteen minutes her teeth found that familiar spot in the bottom left corner of her lip, and she considered lying.

How could she tell her papa that Éponine was her roommate? Her time with Éponine's family had been awful, and her papa had done everything he could to keep her far away from them once he had adopted her. She was certain he would be horrified to learn that their paths had cross again.

On the other hand, lying would be horrible. She had never lied to him before, and the thought of doing so made her skin crawl. Besides, how could she even lie about her roommate? He was bound to find out at some point, it would be impossible to keep it a secret forever. She chewed on her lip for a few moments before firing back a response, saying that she was fine and her roommate hadn't shown up yet.  _I don't have to lie about who she is, but he doesn't need to know just yet._  She still felt uncomfortable about the lie, but the thought of having to explain the situation to her papa then and there was just unbearable.

Setting the phone aside, she lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She wondered who Marius was, and how Éponine had met him and become friends. She was always so horrid as a child, why would anyone be friends with her? Did she change? No, she seems the same now as she was back then. Marius must be a jerk too. She sighed and sat up again. Lying there moping wasn't going to fix anything.

She got up and looked in the mirror, fixing her hair and adjusting her clothes before grabbing her keys and chucking her phone into her bag and leaving, locking the door behind her. By the end of the day, she would have a new friend, no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday had finally arrived. Despite all of Cosette's best efforts in the previous days, she hadn't really made any new friends. There were a few girls in her residence that were nice enough, but they had quickly bonded with each other, leaving Cosette to be the outsider that simply sat with them in the dining hall to avoid loneliness.

That was all going to change now, though. She was going to go to her first class, meet her classmates, and start making friends. Her first class would be Drama in Education and Applied Theatre at 10am. She was up at eight, took her medication, and quickly put on a cute sundress and did her hair and makeup, ensuring that she looked perfect. As much as it annoyed her, appearances did play an important part in first impressions and she wanted to be sure her classmates would like her.

Satisfied that she looked her best, she grabbed her bag, made sure she had her keys, and headed out. She debated grabbing a tea at Tim Horton's on the way, but decided against it upon seeing the line.  _The last thing I want is to risk being late..._  She hurried past and soon found the room her class would be in.

It was a small lecture hall, she figured it would fit maybe a hundred students at the most. After a moment's hesitation, she selected a spot near the back to sit and pulled out her notebook and a pencil.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Cosette looked up and saw a young man with shoulder length ginger hair. His eyes were bright green, his face covered in freckles, and he had a big smile.

"Oh, sure. Of course!" Cosette smiled back as she replied, shifting her bag over a bit to make more room as he sat next to her. "I'm Cosette."

"I'm Jehan, it's nice to meet you. What program are you in?" It hadn't occurred to Cosette that someone in one of her drama courses would ask her what program she was in, but she figured that it did make sense. It could just as easily be an elective credit, and there was always the possibility of someone being in the Concurrent Education program. Most of the girls she'd met in her residence were in concurrent education.

"I'm just a regular drama major," she replied. "You?"

"I'm Con-Ed, drama's my first teachable, English is my second." He grinned. "Do you like poetry?"

"Uh... I don't dislike it, but it's not really my thing," Cosette replied.

"That's fair, not for everyone." Jehan smile at her again. "So, what kind of things do you like?"

"Books, musicals... I really love musicals. Like, a lot. They're kind of my favourite thing. And animals, I love animals too, they're all so cute." She hoped she wasn't coming across as too socially awkward. Jehan seemed nice so far, and she didn't want to drive off a potential friend. Jehan was still smiling though, but whether it was genuine or out of politeness was beyond her.

"I love those things too!" he replied excitedly. "What's your favourite musical?"

"Wicked," she said instantly. "Or Phantom of the Opera. Oh, but Rogers and Hammerstein's music is so pretty, too... It's hard to pick."

Jehan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it really is. I can't really pick either, honestly. Favourite animal?"

"Horses, definitely horses." She blushed slightly. "Partially because of unicorns... I have an embarrassing amount of stuffed horses and unicorns." She laughed slightly at the end of her comment. Cosette could hardly believe how easy he was to talk to, and couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable talking to anyone other than her papa.

"Unicorns are  _very_  fascinating," Jehan agreed, the smile still plastered on his face.

"So, what's your favourite animal then?" Cosette asked.

"Hmm... Lemurs are pretty cool," he replied after a moment. "Yeah. I think it's lemurs. Today, at least. Oh, and I've got a pet rat."

"A pet rat?" She stared at him curiously.

"Yes. Her name is Flora, and she's very friendly and extremely adorable." While describing his rat, his smile somehow became even bigger. "Oh, here, I have pictures on my phone!" He quickly pulled his cellphone out, and brought up pictures of Flora.

"Oh, she is cute," Cosette commented, finding it impossible not to agree with him about his rat.

"Yeah, rats are terribly misunderstood," Jehan explained putting his phone away. "You know, because of the whole plague thing. But domesticated rats are perfectly safe."

"That's really cool," Cosette replied.

Jehan nodded. "Oh, looks like class is about to start. Want to get lunch together after lecture?"

"Sure," Cosette answered excitedly, a huge smile spreading across her face. It had taken her a few days, but it appeared that she had finally succeeded in making her first real friend at university.

* * *

"So, what's your favourite Disney movie?" Jehan asked, his green eyes bright with curiosity. The two were sitting in the university's cafeteria, and had easily resumed their excited conversation from before the lecture. While Cosette had gone straight for the chicken fingers and fries, Jehan had picked a vegetarian option.

"Tangled," Cosette replied in a heartbeat. "Definitely Tangled."

"Why is that?" he asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Cosette hesitated a moment before answering. "I just find Rapunzel very easy to relate to."

"How so?" She hesitated again.  _How much can I reasonably tell him? I'm finally making a friend, the last thing I want to do is drive him away..._

"It's complicated," she said eventually, taking a sip of her drink.

"Fair enough," Jehan replied, not pressing it. She relaxed instantly, relieved.

"What's your favourite?" She asked, looking up at him again.

"Oh, that's a tough one. Probably Hunchback of Notre Dame... Or Beauty and the Beast, that one's a classic." Cosette nodded in agreement.

"I love Beauty and the Beast, the music is beautiful."

"You'd have to be heartless to dislike that movie," Jehan declared, finishing his sandwich. "So," he began again, "what was your time in high school like?"

Cosette froze.  _How do I answer that?_ "Oh, uh, you know... It was high school..." she answered after a few moments, looking down at the few fries that remained on her plate.

"Fair enough. Not a lot of friends?" he asked.

"Do books count?" she countered dryly.

He chuckled, surprising her. "Same here."

"Really? But you're so nice." She had figured that he would have had plenty of friends in high school.

"People weren't all that big on gender non-conformity at my school," he replied with a shrug. "At least, I think that was it. Who could possibly hate rock gardens and classic French poetry?"

"Rock gardens?"

"Yeah. Gardens, but with just rocks." He paused. "On second thought, maybe that was the problem..."

"Those are pretty specific interests," Cosette admitted. "But they're cool. They make you who you are."

He nodded. "Yeah. So, what about you? What were your big interests?"

"Horses and musicals."  _Embarrassingly so... But he doesn't need to know that yet._ The way he was looking at her made her sure that he could tell that she was holding back a bit, but he mercifully didn't say anything. "So, what lab are you in for the lecture we just had?"

"Lab one," he replied. "You?"

She grinned. "Same."

"Great! That means we're together then!" His massive smile was back, much to her relief. "That should be fun!"

Cosette nodded. "Yeah, it will be."

"You know, I think that this year is going to be great," he commented as he got up to head to class.

Cosette found herself smiling despite herself as she did the same. She hoped that he was right. She had yet to let her papa know about Éponine, who she hadn't seen at all yet that day, mercifully. She was truly dreading having to have that conversation, almost as much as she was dreading having to live with the other woman for the entire school year. Nevertheless, she appeared to have found a friend, and that alone was making everything better already.

"Would it be weird if I asked for your number?" Jehan asked suddenly, pulling out his phone.

"Oh, no, not at all!" Cosette replied cheerfully, doing the same with her own phone so they could exchange numbers.

"Thanks, you're the first friend I've made here so far," Jehan explained. "That doesn't make me sound like a total loser, does it?"

"If it does, then I'm a loser too," Cosette grinned. "You're also the first friend I've made."

"Ah, a match made in heaven, apparently. I guess our friendship was meant to be." He smiled as he handed her phone back, and she returned his as well. "I'll have to remember to get you on Facebook as well."

Cosette nodded. "Yeah. Well, we'd better get going before we're late. That wouldn't be a very good way to start the school year."

"Yeah, you've got a point there." He grinned. "Let's go see what adventure awaits in our class, then." He barely checked to see if she was following before hurrying off excitedly.

Cosette smiled before following him, still barely able to believe that she had managed to make a friend already. It was a few days later than she had hoped, but he was kind and clearly quite excited, so she certainly couldn't complain.  _I doubt I could have found a better friend if I'd tried._  She did know one thing for sure, though. With Éponine as a roommate and Jehan as a friend, she was in for a very interesting year.

* * *

By the time Cosette returned to her dorm that afternoon, she had forgotten her problems with her roommate. That all changed rather quickly as she opened the door, however, to see Éponine wearing only her undergarments while making out with a man who was missing a shirt. The man was lying on Éponine's bed, with Éponine straddling him. Neither seemed aware that Cosette had walked in until they heard her squeal in surprise.

"God Cosette, can't you knock?" Éponine yelled upon noticing her.

"I live here too, and I had no reason to expect that you'd have- uh, company..." she finished lamely, hoping that she at least seemed to be capable of standing up for herself.

Éponine merely scoffed and flopped back on her bed, not bothering to grab her clothes. Embarrassed, Cosette, stuck to her side going to sit at her desk and feeling grateful that the room was set up in such a way that their desks acted as a divider, preventing her from having to see Éponine and her... boyfriend? Hookup? She didn't know, and didn't really want to find out.  _Maybe that's Marius? He's kind of handsome, I have to admit... In a rather intimidating kind of way. I'm definitely not surprised that that's Éponine's type._

"Are you staying then?" Éponine asked loudly. From the tone of her voice, it was clear to Cosette that she wanted her gone.  _Well, I'm not going to give her the satisfaction..._

"Yes, I am," Cosette replied bravely. "It's my room too."

"Ugh!" Cosette cringed slightly as Éponine expressed her frustration. She had little doubt that Éponine would be giving her a piece of her mind as soon as her 'guest' was gone.

"Let's just take this back to my dorm then, 'Ponine," the man said after a moment. "I don't have any annoying roommates so no need to worry about being walked in on."

"Great, let's go then 'Parnasse," Éponine replied, still sounding annoyed. Cosette merely turned her laptop on, refusing to say anything else. She stubbornly ignored the two as they grabbed their clothes and left the room, though Cosette was sure she felt Éponine's angry eyes on her as the other woman walked by on her way out.

_So, that's not Marius then. Éponine somehow has a friend and, well, whatever this 'Parnasse' is._ She sighed and shook her head, trying not to think about it. Up until that point, her day had gone pretty well, and she was determined to not let Éponine spoil it.  _Maybe she won't even come back tonight, and I won't have to deal with her later._  She grinned. That would be a dream come true, though it seemed pretty unlikely.

Logging into Facebook, she noticed that she had a notification. She beamed when she realized it was a friend request from Jehan.  _He wasn't just being nice earlier. He really does want me as a friend!_ She accepted it immediately, her mind wandering off into little fantasies of movie nights and pizza parties, a happy future where she and Jehan were best friends. Whatever she had going on with Éponine, she was satisfied that at least her first day of classes had been a success. With any luck, the rest of the school year would be as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Concurrent Education is a teacher's education program where you get your undergrad degree and teacher's education at the same time. It's very popular in Ontario (which is where I've set this story because I'm only familiar with the education system here), especially at my school. I have no idea if it's available in other provinces or countries, all Google searches have turned up nothing but Ontario universities, but most people at my university are in either Con-Ed or business. I'm not a Con-Ed student, but I lived with four of them for two years so I have a working knowledge of how the program is (at least for the intermediate/senior (high school) level, as it does differ depending on what grades you're looking to teach).


	3. Chapter 3

Cosette had no classes on Thursday, so when she woke up she decided to just stay in bed and read for a while. As far as she knew, Éponine hadn't returned the night before, and she had no interest in getting up to check if her volatile roommate was there or not. She figured she'd been reading for an hour when the door swung open and Éponine entered, shooting Cosette a scowl as she did.

"You're still here. Great."

"I don't have any classes today, so I'm probably going to be here all day," Cosette replied as calmly as she could. Her words were met with nothing but a groan. "Were you out all night?"

"Why do you care?"

"We're stuck living together all year whether we like it or not, I just thought it might be useful to be a bit familiar with each others schedules to avoid walking in on... things." She cringed slightly at the thought of how much worse it would have been if she'd walked in on Éponine and the guy she had been with the day before. "It really would be in both of our best interests. So yeah, I was just curious if you were out all night or if it was a morning class because scheduling is useful."

"What it is is annoying..." she heard Éponine mutter from her side of the room. "It was both," she said after a few moments, however. "I was out with 'Parnasse all night and then I had a morning class."

"You went to class without anything for taking notes then?" Cosette asked, surprised.

"What notes? First lecture of the year, why would I need to take notes? There's nothing important on the first day of a first year course, the profs just go over the syllabus. We even got let out early today. Only obsessive freaks like you would think to take notes."

Cosette frowned. "I'm not an 'obsessive freak,' Éponine," she snipped, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

"Well, you certainly act like one. Heck, you're even on medication. What, do you have OCD or something?" Éponine asked. Cosette was surprised. That was the first bit of interest Éponine had shown in her at all since they'd moved in, even if it was antagonistic.

"I do not have OCD," Cosette replied, biting her lip.

"So it's 'or something' then. What's the 'or something'?"

"Why do you care?" Cosette asked, shifting uncomfortably. She was grateful that Éponine was still on her own side of the room and couldn't see her.

"Same reason you want to know my schedule. We live together and I want to know what kind of crazy I'm stuck with."

"I'm not crazy, either," Cosette replied, her annoyance now obvious in her voice. "I just- I-"

"You what? Just spit it out." Éponine sounded at least half as annoyed as Cosette felt.

She sighed and gave in. "I'm autistic with severe social anxiety and depression," she admitted, closing her book and setting it aside. There. It was out. Her roommate, the woman who had tormented her relentlessly for years when they had been children, way back before Cosette had gotten her diagnosis, now knew the truth about her. _I don't even want her to know about my life... I just want her_ out _of my life._

"Oh," was Éponine's only response. The two sat in silence for several long minutes, neither apparently knowing what to say.

_Maybe she's just gone to sleep or something,_ Cosette wondered, and she considered picking her book up again.

"So... when did you figure that out?" Éponine's voice startled Cosette. The last thing she had expected was for Éponine to actually take interest.

"Over the summer. Well, the anxiety and depression I've been dealing with since high school, but the autism diagnosis is new..." She shifted uncomfortably as she explained, desperately wishing that she could just disappear. She was certain that the other woman was silently judging her, if not coming up with new ways to torment her.

"Huh," was again the only response Éponine provided.

"How did you know that I'm on medication?" Cosette asked, suddenly realizing that she hadn't disclosed that information. She didn't keep her pills in the open, either, she kept them in one of her drawers, safely out of sight.

"Oh, I did a bit of snooping while you were in class yesterday..." Éponine replied casually. "I was curious."

"You went through my things without asking?" Cosette was horrified.

"I didn't take anything, I just looked around. Your fashion sense is terrible, by the way. No one needs that many cardigans. They're lame."

"You invaded my privacy!"

"Oh, like you wouldn't have done the same!" Éponine's voice was annoyingly snippy.

"I wouldn't, actually, because that is incredibly rude!"  _But it's Éponine, can I really be surprised that she did that? When has she ever cared about my feelings?_

"Oh, get over it. It's not like you were hiding anything embarrassing, except for the cardigan collection. And far too many stuffed animals."

"They're cute," Cosette insisted.

"The cardigans or stuffed animals?" Éponine asked dryly.

"Both," Cosette replied, reaching for her book again.  _How could she have gotten even more rude than she was as a child?_

"You keep telling yourself that," Éponine told her. "No one else is going to agree."

"Hmph." Cosette was too frustrated to argue with her roommate, and left it at that. She was grateful that their conversation had managed to remain civil, if a bit short. That had to count for something.  _If nothing, it's at least a sign that we can live together without killing each other. We don't have to be friends – I don't know that I'd even_ want  _to be friends with her, but at least we can co-exist somewhat peacefully._  After a few more minutes of silence, and an inability to focus on her book, Cosette spoke again. "So, that guy from yesterday... Is he your boyfriend?"

"What?" Éponine asked.

"The guy you were with. Is he your boyfriend?" Cosette couldn't deny that she was curious. Especially if there was a chance he'd be around again.

"No, well, he used to be. Montparnasse and I- we dated in high school," Éponine replied. "It didn't exactly work out though."

"That's not what it looked like when I walked in yesterday..." Cosette commented carefully, setting the book aside once more.

"Yeah, well... The dating bit wasn't working out, but, you know. The sex was good, so we still hang out and hook up. It's a friends with benefits thing," Éponine explained.

"Oh," Cosette replied. "I didn't realize that was something people actually did..." She didn't have to see her roommate to know the other woman was likely rolling her eyes. She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed at how little she knew about other people, and found herself wishing that her papa hadn't kept her so sheltered growing up.  _I guess I should consider myself lucky he didn't home-school me..._

"Well, conveniently we still go to the same school. Though frankly I'm surprised he even managed to get in..." Éponine continued after a moment. "He never really struck me as being all that motivated with school."

"He's kind of handsome," Cosette said casually. Éponine scoffed in response.

"Trust me, you don't want to date him. He's not your type."

"And how would you know my type?" Cosette asked skeptically.

"A hopelessly naive, innocent, little girl like you wouldn't last five minutes alone with Montparnasse. He'd break you like a twig."

"What does that mean?"  _Would he just beat me up for no reason? That doesn't make any sense at all._ She frowned.  _And did she just call me a little girl? We're the same age!_

"It's a figure of speech. What, were you home-schooled or something?"

"No. Catholic school. But I didn't really have any friends..."  _I'm not sure what's worse, us not talking or the fact that I have to explain my personal history to Éponine while she explains social things to me... I think this might be worse. It's just so weird..._

"Well, you're obviously a virgin, and he's fifty shades of fucked up." Éponine paused for a minute before continuing. "You do get that reference, right?"

"Yeah, that one I get," Cosette replied, feeling uncomfortable. "I'll just take your word for it... What are you doing with him then?"

"I'm just as messed up as he is, and it's fun."

"Oh."  _Note to self, don't get on her bad side. Or at least, any more than I already am... This is a disaster..._

"Don't worry, I won't kill you in your sleep or anything," Éponine told her after a moment. "If I wanted you dead, I already would have. Plus I'm your roommate, so that would be way too obvious, especially once our history got out, and jail isn't all that appealing. I just hate you, I'm not a psychotic murderer or anything like that."

"That's very comforting," Cosette replied dryly.

"We just got through an awkward personal conversation without insulting each other, you should be able to take some comfort from that, at least," Éponine commented.

"You implied that I'm stupid and called me hopelessly naive," Cosette reminded her. "And you also admitted to hating me."

"Right. Well, never mind then. I'm going to have a nap now, so don't bother me." There was a small amount of noise after, presumably Éponine getting comfortable, but she didn't speak again.

Cosette sighed and picked her book up again.  _I doubt I'll ever understand her. Not that I really want to. Why would I want to understand someone who sneaks around and touches my things without permission? She had no right to go snooping through my things!_  She frowned, trying to concentrate on her book with no success. She briefly considered texting Jehan, but decided against it. The friendship was far too new, the last thing she wanted was to be a bother. Instead, she grabbed her laptop and headphones, setting up Netflix and settling in for a day of binging on her favourite shows.  _With any luck, Éponine won't wake up and bother me anytime soon._

One hour in, her phone started ringing.

"You've got to be kidding me..." She cringed at the sound of Éponine's cranky voice, and felt her heart sink as she realized it was her papa calling. She quickly closed her computer, grabbed her keys instinctively, and hurried out of the room before answering, ignoring her roommate entirely.

"Hi papa!" she said, trying to sound cheerful and hoping that he wouldn't notice.

"Hi Cosette. I just wanted to check and see how you're doing. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. Just great."

"How are your classes going?"

"I've only had one so far, it was fun though."

"And are you making friends?"

"Yeah, I've already made a friend. Jehan. He's really nice-"

"He?" Her papa's voice was sharp and full of concern, and Cosette felt her stomach twist a bit.

"Yes, he, and he's just a friend papa, nothing to worry about." She was grateful that he couldn't see her rolling her eyes at his concern. He had always been overprotective, much to her annoyance.

"And your roommate? You're getting along with her?"

Cosette hesitated a moment. "Yeah, she's fine. Different program, different schedule. She has friends from high school here so she's with them a lot, we've barely talked." It wasn't a complete lie, but she still felt guilty, and she was, again, grateful that they were only talking over the phone. She knew she was a terrible liar, and had she been speaking to her papa face to face she knew that he would notice.

"I was thinking I could visit you this weekend and we could go out for lunch or dinner, and maybe see a movie."

"Oh..." Her heart sank. As much as she loved spending time with her papa, she was sure that he'd ask more questions and she wouldn't be able to lie to him. Worse, he'd probably see Éponine himself.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no, of course not," she replied quickly. "That sounds lovely."

"Great. I'll see you Saturday then. You figure out a good movie and let me know the time."

"Will do," she replied.  _Saturday. That's two days to figure out what to do..._

"I love you, Cosette."

"I love you too, papa," she replied, smiling slightly despite her anxiety around the situation. Sighing, she hung up the phone and returned to her room. Éponine said nothing as she walked back in, so she figured she'd gone back to sleep. She took a deep breath as she sat back on her bed, setting the phone aside. No matter what, she'd figure it out. She knew she would. And if her papa did find out about Éponine being her roommate, surely he wouldn't go so far as to pull her out of university, right?  _It's going to be fine. Of course it is. I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it._

She sighed again as she turned her laptop back on. She would spend the rest of the day watching Netflix and not thinking about her terrible roommate, and with luck, the day with her papa wouldn't make things worse.


	4. Chapter 4

Cosette woke up early on Saturday and started her day by showering, picking out the perfect outfit, and doing her makeup before heading down to the dining hall for breakfast. There was no sign of her roommate until Éponine wandered into their room around eleven looking slightly hung over while Cosette was waiting for her papa.

"Are you going on a date or something?" the other woman asked, catching her off guard. She'd barely looked at Cosette while walking in, and since their short conversation on Thursday the two hadn't spoken.

"No, I'm going for out for lunch with my papa," she replied.

"You're what?" Éponine stopped in her tracks, turning to look at Cosette.

"I'm going for lunch with my papa," Cosette repeated. "He should be here any minute."

"Does he know I'm your roommate?" Éponine asked. For the first time, Cosette saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Uh, no... He doesn't," she replied slowly. "I haven't gotten around to explaining that to him... I doubt he'd recognize you though, it's been about ten years. I didn't recognize you. Besides, he said he'd text me when he gets here, he's not even coming up."

"Right..." Éponine went back to her side of the room and was silent after that.  _God only knows what she was so worried about, she's not the one that would likely get pulled out of school and moved across the country. Again._

It wasn't long before her phone buzzed, letting her know that her papa had arrived. She grabbed her bag, making sure she had her keys, and left the room. She didn't bother saying anything to Éponine as she left, since her roommate never did so.

Her stomach was twisting as she headed down to the parking lot to find her papa. She was excited to see him again, even though they'd only been apart for a week – they had been constantly together since he had adopted her, after all – but she still had no clue what to tell him about her roommate.  _Maybe he won't ask and I won't have to worry about it..._

"Cosette!" She looked up and smiled when she saw her papa. He was a large man, very tall and muscular, and had likely been quite imposing in his youth. He was no longer young when he had adopted her as a child, and by now his his hair was going gray. His eyes were soft and gentle, just as they had been when she had first met him. As intimidating as he could appear, she had never known him to be anything but kind and gentle.

"Papa!" She ran over to him excitedly, hugging him tightly. She doubted that there was anything in the world that could feel as safe as his arms did. It took less than a second for her to relax entirely, her eyes closing as she clung to him. "I know it's only been a week, but I really missed you."

"I missed you too, Cosette. How are your classes going?" he asked before releasing her.

"Same as they were when we talked the other day, papa. It's just been the first week, nothing's really happened so far," she explained as they got in the car.

"That's fair. And you're still getting along with your roommate?" he asked as he started driving.

"Oh, uh... She's... Well, you know, we don't really have that much in common..."  _Except for a shared past from when I was a foster kid staying with her family until you adopted me._  She stared straight ahead, not willing to look to see if her papa was showing any signs of being aware that she was keeping something from him. She was sure that he suspected something. He was too clever, he had always known.

"Have you even tried talking to her?"  _Or he could just be thinking that... Again._

"Yes, I have." She turned to face him. "I tried the moment she moved in. She wasn't very interested. Like I told you before, different program, she has friends here from high school." Cosette sighed, resting her head against the passenger side window.

"I know it bothers you when I ask you the same questions over and over, but it's because I care about you. I want to be sure you're fine," her papa explained. "I'm not trying to be annoying."

"I know papa. It's fine, really." Her stomach twisted, and she wondered if she should admit that Éponine was her roommate.  _No, it would just upset him. And he could try to pull me out. I've worked too hard to get here, I don't want to have to drop out now just because my papa is overprotective and my roommate is the daughter of the horrible foster parents I had years ago. It's fine. Surely I can keep this one little secret, right?_

"As long as you're sure." Her stomach continued to twist, and she wondered what it was that he was actually thinking. It was always hard to tell with him, he was too good at maintaining a calm voice and appearance.  _I suppose I'll just have to trust him like I always do._

They soon reached the restaurant, and sat in silence for a while as they went over the menus. The silence didn't last long, however.

"So, what's this 'Jehan' like?" her papa asked after they had ordered.

"Oh, he seems really nice," Cosette replied excitedly, relieved that he had decided to acknowledge that she had made a friend, even if her roommate situation was less than perfect.

"Seems nice or is nice?"

"I don't know, we've only met in person the one time, for class, really. And we had lunch together between the lecture and lab. We've texted a bit, too." She took a sip of water before continuing. "He does really seem nice so far, though."

"What do you know about him so far?"

"He likes rock gardens and poetry, and has a pet rat named Flora."

"A pet rat named Flora?" Her papa raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes. He showed me pictures, she's very cute."

"Huh. That's interesting."

"Yeah." Cosette smiled. "And he also said when we met on Wednesday that I'm the only friend he's made so far."

"Oh." His voice seemed a bit strained and he looked tense, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"We're just friends, papa. There's nothing romantic, I swear."  _And even if there was, I'm not sure I'd be able or willing to tell you... I can't even find the words to tell you about Éponine._ He seemed to relax a bit at her reassurance, much to her relief.  _Would he have been more anxious about me talking to guys back in high school?_

"That's good. Not that I would have had a problem with it, were that the case, but school is important. You need to spend the time on your studies."

"I know, papa, and I will. No boyfriends, I promise." She couldn't help but wonder weather he genuinely meant it or if he was just making up an excuse, but she didn't question it.

Their food arrived soon after, and they mostly ate in silence, though her papa would occasionally stop to ask her another question, mostly about her life at university. Twice he asked if she was getting enough sleep.

"How is the food at school?" he asked towards the end of the meal.

"Oh, it's fine. Not the best, but not terrible," Cosette replied.

"This must be a real treat then."

"It's only been a week, papa. Everything is fine, really."

"I just want to be sure. It feels like you're keeping something from me."  _I knew it. He did suspect something._  Her teeth instantly sank into her lip again, which her papa noticed before she did. "You're biting your lip again, I know there's something bothering you."  _Of course he does, he always knows..._

"Well, it's my roommate..." she admitted slowly, looking down at her empty plate. Her papa remained silent, waiting for her to explain. "She- she's someone I knew before coming here."

"Who?" Her papa sounded confused, and she couldn't blame him. After he had adopted her and taken her away from the Thénardiers, she hadn't really had any friends in school, but she hadn't exactly been bullied, either. She had slipped under the radar and gone largely unnoticed for the most part, only occasionally talking to a handful of people, and the odds of any of them going to the same school as her and then turning up as her roommate were very unlikely. Her explanation that her roommate had friends from high school at their university didn't help the situation, either.

"Well," she said hesitantly, "it's Éponine. Éponine Thénardier. You know, the girl from my old foster home..."

Her papa was silent. She looked back up, and felt her heart sink slightly. His face was entirely unreadable.  _What is he thinking? Am I going to have to drop out?_

"Oh," he said after a while. "How are you managing? Is she treating you decently?"

"It's fine, I guess. We don't really talk much. I'm managing."  _At least he didn't freak out... It could have been worse._

"You're sure you're okay?" His voice was calm, but his face was serious.

"I'm sure. I can deal with it," she said with as much confidence as she could manage.  _Please don't make me drop out or switch schools._

"As long as you're sure. I just want you to be safe and happy," he replied after another moment of silence.

"Thanks papa." She felt much more relaxed now that he knew and seemed to be more or less okay with letting her stay. They left the restaurant soon after, walking in an uncomfortable silence back to the car.

"So, any movies that you want to see?" her papa asked as he started the car, shooting her a smile.

"No, there's nothing interesting coming out for another month or so," she replied.

"Do you want to just head back to residence then?"

"Yeah. Lunch was really nice though, thanks papa." She forced a quick smile, feeling a bit guilty that she was going straight back to her dorm after spending the majority of lunch trying to keep her roommate a secret only to awkwardly drop the truth right at the end.

"You're more than welcome, Cosette. I always enjoy spending time with you."

"I enjoy spending time with you too, papa," she replied softly.

Her papa soon dropped her off at the residence building, promising that he would see her again soon, and she returned to her room.

"So you're back then?" Éponine's voice startled her. She had expected the other woman to either be out, or to ignore her completely when she got back.

"Uh, yeah, I am," she replied, setting down her purse before sitting on her bed.  _She must be trying to figure out if she can have Montparnasse over or if she should go to his place._

"Did you tell him about me?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I did..." Cosette shifted uncomfortably.

"And?"

"It's fine. He's okay with it."  _But only because I insisted that I'm fine... which was really just me stretching the truth because I'm not fine, this whole thing is awkward and uncomfortable. But would it really be any better with anyone else for a roommate?_  That last thought stuck in her mind for a moment. Would she really rather live with a complete stranger? Sure, Éponine was a nightmare, but at least she was a familiar one. That had to count for something, right?

"Huh," was Éponine's only response.

"What?" Cosette asked as she picked up a book, a touch of irritability entering her voice. Éponine's tendency to primarily have monosyllabic replies, most of which were just noises rather than words, was beginning to get on her nerves after a full week.

"Eh, it's nothing. I was just expecting something a little more dramatic. Maybe get a room to myself out of it, or at the least a different roommate. You know, assuming he didn't go on some kind of rampage first. He looked pretty intimidating when we were kids. How many boyfriends has he beaten up?"

"Well, one, he's very kind and sweet, two, I've never even had a boyfriend, and three, I'm sorry but you're stuck with me for the year. You can't get rid of me that easily," Cosette retorted, opening her book. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening them again to start reading. Living with Éponine was clearly going to be a huge challenge for her mentally. It had taken less than five minutes for her to get Cosette worked up after getting back from lunch.

_I can't let her get to me like this... I didn't get enough sleep last night, that's probably all it was. It's just an off day. I had a lovely lunch with papa, things are fine. Éponine is just a nuisance that I have to learn to deal with. We're not kids anymore, I'm not going to let her make me miserable again._

To her relief, Éponine didn't bother to reply – aside from a snort at Cosette's comment on having never had a boyfriend – though it wasn't hard to imagine that she had rolled her eyes. The few times they had actually been looking at each other while talking, Cosette had managed to notice her fondness for the action. After a few minutes of silence, Cosette found herself drifting into the world of her book, more than content to hide in a land of magic and unicorns, far away from her problems with her roommate.


	5. Chapter 5

With the exception of discovering Éponine in one of her courses, the next week passed mostly without incident for Cosette. Mercifully, Jehan was also in that class, and that was how Cosette found herself explaining most of the roommate situation to him.

"So, you two don't get along then?" he asked as they sat together in the lecture hall, Éponine a couple of rows ahead.

"No, we don't," Cosette replied. "Not even close. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, we are able to be civil with each other on occasion, but yeah. We don't get along."

"That certainly didn't take long, it's only been a week," he commented.

"It's kind of complicated, and a long story," she explained quietly. "We kind of knew each other before coming here, and somehow wound up being roommates..."

"Want to talk about it?" he asked. "If not it's okay, we've only known each other a couple of days."

"Well, the short version is basically I'm adopted, and I lived with her family for a bit when I was in the foster system... And she wasn't very nice to me. At all." She decided not to bother getting into the specifics of Éponine's treatment of her at the time. Class would be starting in a bit, and a crowded lecture hall was not the ideal location for that conversation.

"Yeah, I can see how that would be complicated... I can imagine that seeing her again and discovering that she's your roommate at university was not pleasant," he said sympathetically.

"It really wasn't..." She shifted uncomfortably, her eyes drifting to the location of Éponine, a few rows ahead. She appeared to be chatting happily with a young man next her. His wavy hair was light brown, the only detail she could make out clearly, though she could tell that he was handsome, and he seemed happy to converse with the woman.  _It's not Montparnasse. Is that one of her other high school friends that's here? Between him and Montparnasse, she's clearly good at finding attractive guys..._  She shook her head slightly, pushing the thoughts away. Class was starting, it was hardly the time to worry about her roommate's friends.  _Besides, do I even_ want _to know about her friends? They're probably just as bad as she is... And why am I even thinking about whether they're attractive? I promised papa I'd focus on my studies. No boyfriends._

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Jehan nudging her arm as he passed her a note. She blushed slightly as she read it. 'Are you OK?'

'I'm fine,' she wrote back quickly.  _And I'm definitely going to try to stop letting her get to me so much._

'Do you want to get lunch together tomorrow and talk about it?' he scribbled, smiling a bit.

She nodded in response, and the two turned their attention back to their professor.  _There, everything's going to be fine. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Éponine has her friends, and I have mine. Next year I won't have to live with her anymore, and this annoying overlap will be over forever._

* * *

"I can't believe this," Cosette muttered to herself as she rushed down the stairs, fumbling with a few of the buttons on her brown cardigan as she went. She was never late, but somehow she had managed to sleep in that morning and subsequently lost track of time. She was already ten minutes late for meeting Jehan for lunch in the cafeteria in his residence building on the other side of campus, and even if she ran it would take her at least another ten minutes to get there. She had already sent him a text apologizing profusely, but she was determined to get there as quickly as she could.

 _I can't believe this, I'm such an idiot,_  she thought as she ran out of her residence and began racing across the field between it and one of the buildings classes were held in. She didn't care that the grass was still a bit slippery from raining the night before, she couldn't stand being late. _I know, I'll buy him a coffee to make up for it, or something like that-_ She was suddenly knocked to the ground as she ran into someone else, alongside a few books the other person had been carrying.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there, forgive me." The young man she'd run into offered her his hand to help her up, and she took it gratefully, smiling sheepishly.

"I wasn't paying attention either, sorry," she replied, looking down in embarrassment. "Here, I'll help you get your books." She quickly bent down again to help him pick them up.

"No, it's fine, I've got them," he said quickly. Their fingers brushed as they reached for the last book at the same time, and she glanced up, meeting his eyes.

They were hazel, with a few small flecks of green, and he had wavy, light brown hair. He was terribly handsome, and seemed somewhat familiar, and she felt her stomach flutter slightly. He smiled, and her heart began racing. She quickly looked away again, entirely embarrassed by the whole encounter.

"I- I really should be going," she said shyly, standing up again, refusing to look at him for fear that he had noticed her blushing. "I'm late to meet a friend. I- Sorry about running into you- bye." She quickly hurried away, not looking back once.

_Oh God, what was that? I must have looked like such an idiot- Oh God. He's in my Women's and Gender Studies class. He's the one that was sitting next to Éponine. They're friends- If I see him again I think I'll actually die of embarrassment. Especially since Éponine will likely be there if I do see him- Oh, that's probably why I ran into him, she's in our room right now, he's probably going to meet her._

Her heart sank, and she quickly began wondering how long she could stretch out lunch with Jehan to avoid having to go back to her room and find Éponine and the young man from their class there.  _I bet he'll tell her about that and she'll know it was me and I'll get back and they'll be there laughing at me... But oh, he really was handsome..._  She felt her stomach flutter again, the way it had when she had looked into his eyes. It wasn't the same as when she was nervous. It was something different, that she had never felt before, and it came with a longing she had never known, either.

 _He smiled at me,_  she thought, pushing away the anxious ones that had been attempting to crowd out that memory.  _He smiled, and his eyes... They were soft and kind. Maybe he isn't laughing at me... Maybe- does he feel what I'm feeling right now? Or does he even care? Maybe he just shrugged the whole thing off and it's nothing to him, just another part of the day and he isn't laughing at me or even thinking about me at all..._

She was so distracted by her racing thoughts that she nearly walked past Jehan's building, but thankfully her friend was waiting for her outside.

"Cosette! You made it!" he said cheerfully, startling her out of the labyrinth of fears and fantasies that had somehow managed to quickly develop on her walk over. "Ready to talk?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," she replied. Even though she was now with her best friend, a part of her mind was still trying to live on cloud nine.

Jehan noticed quickly. "Or, instead of talking about your roommate issues, we could talk about whatever it is that has your head up in the clouds right now?"

Cosette found herself blushing again. "I'm not sure there's really anything to say there..."

"Oh please, you look like you just stepped out of a Nicholas Sparks movie, or one of those Hallmark tv movies. What happened?" he asked as they made their way tot he cafeteria.

"Oh, well, I was on my way over to meet you and I was running because I was late, and I ran into someone..." she began, feeling even more self conscious now that Jehan had brought up cheesy romance movies. "It was slippery since it rained last night, so I fell, and he dropped his books and he helped me up-"

"And you looked into his eyes and it was love at first sight?" Jehan finished.

Cosette blushed even more. "No, it definitely wasn't," she insisted, despite the return of the butterflies she had felt before. "How could I possibly love someone I don't know-"

"Oh my God, you actually are in one of those cliched romance movies," Jehan continued, ignoring her protest. "This is amazing!"

"If you think they're cliched then why do you like them?" Cosette asked, raising an eyebrow and hoping it would steer him off the topic of her love life.

"Cliches are fun, and the cute romance is worth it. Oh, you're so lucky! Was he handsome? How handsome?" Jehan was so excited that Cosette couldn't help but give in.

"Yes, he was handsome. Very handsome. Tall, wavy, light brown hair, hazel eyes. The sweetest smile I've ever seen... But it doesn't matter, I definitely made a fool of myself by running into him like that, and the only reason I even met him is because I was late to meet up with you. I'm probably never going to see him again, and even if I do I'm pretty sure he's one of Éponine's friends-"

"The plot thickens!" Jehan's excitement continued to grow. "What makes you think that?"

"I think he's the guy that was sitting next to her in class last night. But really Jehan, I don't think this is really worth getting excited over. I'm probably just overreacting to the whole situation since my papa had me living under a rock. He sent me to an all-girls Catholic school, remember?"

"You hadn't mentioned the all-girls part, but yeah, I guess that's a fair point," Jehan admitted. "But still, that doesn't mean it can't be love!"

"You do realize you're the first guy my age I've ever really talked to, right?" Cosette asked. "I've never been involved in any of this romance stuff. Honestly, I'm amazed my papa didn't home-school me."

Jehan shrugged. "So you're inexperienced, doesn't mean you can't find love."

"I guess, but it's still really unlikely... Let's just get our lunch and I'll explain a bit more about the whole Éponine situation," she said quickly. As uncomfortable as that topic was, it was decidedly preferable to trying to talk about a man she had briefly met and didn't even know the name of as if he was a serious romantic interest.

"Works for me," Jehan agreed happily. Ten minutes later, they were seated at a table with their respective lunches, and Cosette found herself trying to find the best place to start.

_The whole thing is going to sound ridiculous, I bet... But I did say I'd tell him... I guess I don't have to say everything, though._

"So, what's your history with your roommate, then?" Jehan asked, his eyes bright and curious. "Is this the tragic back story part of your romance story?"

Cosette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "You make it sound so much less complicated than it actually is."

Jehan grinned. "I try. So, you said last night that you were in a foster home with her?"

"Yeah. Her parents somehow got to be foster parents and I lived with them for a few years," Cosette replied. "How they managed to play the system for five years is beyond me, but they did... They weren't very nice people." She bit her lip, unsure of how to explain.  _Will I sound like a whiny, spoiled brat?_

"How so?" Jehan asked, tilting his head, the curiosity still in his eyes.

"Well, in addition to Éponine, they had two other kids of their own, Azelma and Gavroche. They were all treated pretty well, especially the two girls. New clothes, plenty of food, comfortable beds with clean sheets..."

"And you?"

"Table scraps, the hand-me-downs from their daughters, if I was lucky, and for a while a sleeping bag near the fireplace. I started off getting a bed, but after Gavroche was too big for his crib, it was given to him and I got the sleeping bag," she explained. "Well, the sleeping bag only lasted a few months, thankfully. They got another bed in time to renew their license, before the case worker found out."

"And they managed to get away with all of that?" Jehan was visibly stunned.

Cosette shrugged. "Yeah. For five years. Unfortunately follow ups don't happen as often as they should after a kid gets placed... As far as I know it's not as bad as it gets in the states, but it's still pretty bad. But then my papa adopted me and we moved to Toronto and everything worked out fine."  _Until she became my roommate for university, at least._

"Wow. That must be pretty uncomfortable for you then, having to live with her again now," Jehan commented.

"Yeah... She- we- we were never able to get along as kids," Cosette replied, looking down.  _She flat out bullied me the whole time I was living there..._

Jehan simply nodded and didn't press the issue, to her gratitude. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jehan spoke again.

"If the guy you met today is the same one from class, there's a good chance you could meet him again," he commented. "I bet you two would be really cute."

Cosette blushed and looked down. "You haven't met him, and we don't know him. How can you possibly know we'd be cute?"

"Just a guess," he replied, shrugging. "You could be cute."

"I guess, maybe... But I don't want to get my hopes up, especially over a man I've met once briefly and don't know," Cosette explained before sipping her drink.

"Well, I wish you luck anyway," Jehan told her, smiling. "And if you meet him again,  _please_ talk to him. You obviously had your head in the clouds when you got here, he's clearly something special." How Jehan could be so sure was beyond her, but she decided not to question it.

"How are things with your roommate?" she asked instead.

"Courfeyrac's pretty cool, we're getting along rather well. He's got me socializing with some other people in our residence. One of them, Feuilly, is really into art. I think he said he's majoring in it," Jehan replied.

"Feuilly? Courfeyrac?" Cosette asked. "Interesting names."

"It's an interesting group. They all seem to prefer going by last names," he explained. "I'm the odd one out there. Jehan is just too romantically medieval. Hence the preference for Jehan over Jean, my actual given name."

"Ah, so that's it. Not surprising." Cosette smiled and finished her lunch.

"Yeah, it's just more poetic with the 'h' thrown in," Jehan told her, finishing his own lunch. "Well, this has been fun, but I should probably get going. Class in a bit."

"Yeah. Hope you have a nice time," Cosette replied. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Good luck with your roommate."

"Thanks. I'll probably need it." Cosette smiled as she picked her things up. "Bye, Jehan!"

"Bye, Cosette! I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Sounds good!" Still smiling, Cosette left, heading back to her room. With any luck, she would be proven wrong about the man being one of Éponine's friends, or at the very least he wouldn't be in their room by now.

Her walk back to her residence was far less eventful than her walk to meet Jehan had been. The most interesting thing that she saw was a squirrel this time, and she certainly didn't run into the young man from earlier again. To her relief, he wasn't in their room when she arrived either, though Éponine certainly was.

"Marius, did you forget something?" she asked as Cosette entered.

"Who?" Cosette asked, confused.  _Is that the name of the guy I saw earlier? Or is this whole thing just a coincidence, and he wasn't one of her friends, just a look alike, and she also happened to have a friend here? It's weird enough that she and I are roommates, it would be ridiculous if at a school this size I also just happened to run into a guy that's one of her friends._

"Oh, it's you," Éponine said dryly. "Never mind."

"And you're in as sour a mood as ever," Cosette muttered, setting her bag down.  _Even if she doesn't like me, you'd think she'd manage to sound a bit positive at least_ some _of the time_.

"If the guy you liked had just spent the past hour talking your ear off about some girl he crashed into on his way over, you'd be in a sour mood too," Éponine snapped. Cosette felt her heart sink into her stomach, and she desperately wished she could run out and call Jehan.  _But maybe it is just a coincidence..._

"You mean Montparnasse?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual.  _She did say she was hooking up with him, right? And I've met him, he's not the same guy I ran into earlier._

"No, 'Parnasse is just a friend that I sleep with sometimes. A different guy."

_You've got to be kidding me. She's interested in one guy but sleeping with someone else that's just a friend for fun? Am I missing something? Is that what passes for normal?_

"Not that it's any of your bus-" Éponine froze mid-sentence, causing Cosette to look up, confused. She hadn't realized that Éponine had been walking over, but her roommate was now frozen, staring at her. She squirmed uncomfortably under the other woman's gaze, suddenly feeling very small as the stare became cold, turning into a death glare. "Fuck you." The words were the coldest she had ever heard from the other woman, and she shivered, frightened.

 _What did I do? Why is she suddenly so upset with me specifically? Unless..._  She heard Éponine mutter something under her breath about a stupid brown cardigan before leaving the room, essentially confirming what she had been dreading all day.

There was no denying now that the man she had run into was indeed one of Éponine's friends. In addition, Éponine was clearly attracted to him. And based on Éponine's reaction, whatever it was Cosette had felt when they had met, he had felt the same.

She groaned, falling back onto her bed and staring up at the ceiling.  _Of all the people in this school, I just_ had  _to get Éponine as a roommate and I just_ had _to crash into the_ one  _guy that she's clearly into and he just_ had  _to be attractive... I actually have the worst luck._  Groaning, she reached for her phone. While Jehan was in class, she could still text him. He could always reply later.

 _I hope to God that Éponine doesn't come back tonight... Please be one of the nights where she stays over with Montparnasse..._ With another sigh, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. If nothing else, at least she could be confident that there was no way the situation could possibly get any worse.


	6. Chapter 6

Éponine did not return that night, or the night after. Cosette was far too stressed to go to class that Wednesday, and emailed her prof to say she was sick. There was no sign of Éponine on Thursday morning, either, and to her relief Jehan dropped by to see her that afternoon. He had already replied to her texts, but she was grateful to have the chance to talk to him in person, too.

"I missed you in class on yesterday," he said as they sat on her bed. "It wasn't the same without you."

"I just wasn't up to it after everything. The look in Éponine's eyes before she left- it was terrifying, and of course she hasn't been back since." Cosette bit her lip and looked down "This whole thing is a mess, and it would never have happened if I hadn't slept in on Tuesday."

"It's fine, Cosette. You don't have to worry so much. Whatever issues she has aren't your fault," Jehan told her gently, squeezing her hand.

"But I still have to live with her. Eventually she is going to come back. She hated me already, now apparently this guy she likes is interested in me, even though he doesn't even know me-"

"And you're interested in him, too, so all we need to do is find him and set you two up!" Jehan cut her off, the excitement he felt at the idea of romance clear in his eyes.

"No, definitely not. The last thing I need is Éponine finding out that I feel the same way. She mad enough as it is. If she knew I liked him too, and if we started dating- I think she'd actually kill me." She shifted a bit, uncomfortable at the thought of what could happen if Éponine learned the truth.

"She wouldn't kill you. There's no way she'd go that far," Jehan replied reassuringly. "Besides, there's still a chance, albeit a small one, that it really is just all a coincidence. Maybe he ran into another girl in a brown cardigan around the same time on the same day that you ran into someone else?"

"Well, maybe she wouldn't kill me, but she would definitely make my life extremely uncomfortable," Cosette retorted. "And the odds of it being someone else are just too low... Oh, we're only three weeks into the school year and it's already a disaster!"

"Disaster is a bit over the top, don't you think?" Jehan reasoned. "More like... Complicated?"

"Complicated isn't wrong, but it doesn't feel like a strong enough word," Cosette replied, sighing. "I think disaster sums it up just fine. Or maybe catastrophe? Either or."

"You're the real disaster." Cosette cringed as Éponine's sharp voice cut in. Jehan jumped slightly. Somehow, neither of them had noticed her entering the room.

"Oh, you're back," Cosette said as she turned to face her roommate, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Yeah, I am." Éponine raised an eyebrow as she looked at Jehan. "I see you have a friend."

"Yeah, I do. Is that really so surprising?" Her heart was racing as she spoke, and her palms were beginning to feel sweaty.

"Well, yeah. You were always pathetic, I can't understand how anyone would want to spend time with you." Cosette shrank slightly at the words.

"Cosette is  _not_ pathetic, she's a kind and wonderful person." She hadn't expected Jehan to speak up, but she was grateful that he had. Éponine apparently hadn't expected it either, as she had no immediate response.  _I guess Jehan caught her off guard. Thank God for him._

"No one asked you," Éponine snapped after a few moments of silence. "Would you please leave so I can speak to my roommate? Alone?"

"You don't get to show up after disappearing for two days and order my friends around," Cosette cut in, catching Éponine off guard for a moment. Cosette rarely stood up for herself, but she was annoyed enough to bother this time, especially since she had a friend for backup.

"Well we need to talk and I don't want him here." Éponine crossed her arms, and Cosette was once again grateful that Jehan was around. Alone, she would have easily been intimidated.

"Then we can talk later. If he leaves, I leave." Cosette got up and grabbed her purse.

"You can't run away from me forever," Éponine commented, her eyes narrowed.

"You're the one who ran out with no explanation the other day, not me," Cosette reminded her sharply. Éponine snorted in response, and Cosette and Jehan left quickly.

"Well, that was unpleasant," Jehan commented as they headed down the stairs, away from the dorm.

"And that's what I get to live with all year. See why I'm so frustrated?" Cosette asked. Her heart was still racing, though she could feel herself beginning to relax a bit again.

"Yeah, I don't envy you that at all," Jehan replied. "I don't think I could imagine a worse situation if I tried. You know, unless she was  _actually_  a murderer."

"Hopefully she won't turn out to be one." Cosette shuddered. "I'd really prefer not to die this year."

"Not dying is always a good plan," Jehan agreed, his tone becoming a bit more cheerful. Cosette smiled at his comment as the two made their way outside, heading towards a bench in the field.

"Very true. Probably the best plan." She sat on the bench, setting her bag down next to her. "At least your roommate isn't horrible."

"Yeah, thankfully," Jehan replied, sitting next to her. "He's just, well, I honestly have no idea how to describe Courfeyrac."

"Well, try," Cosette urged, anxious to change the topic a bit. "I'm curious, and you haven't said much about your roommate other than that he's already found a bunch of friends."

"I think he said he was an athlete in high school. Sometimes we go get dinner together and he flirts with pretty much anyone who acknowledges him in the cafeteria, and no, that is not an exaggeration. He's very cheerful, too. I don't think I've ever seen him without a smile. If I ever see him not smiling, it will probably be terrifying." Jehan shuddered. "The thought of Courfeyrac not smiling just seems unnatural."

"Sounds a lot better than Éponine," Cosette commented.

"He talks a lot, too," Jehan continued. "He's a very social person. And like I said before, he's brought me along to meet up with some of his new friends before. I think they're trying to make some sort of social justice club. It seems interesting."

"Really?" Cosette asked.

"Yeah. A few of them are political science majors, including Courfeyrac. They seem pretty cool, for the most part," he explained. "One of them, Enjolras, is a little intimidating at times, though."

"How so?"

"He's just really intense. He's very passionate about his political beliefs and not afraid to share them. Not necessarily a bad thing, but he's willing to fight over it. A lot."

"That does seem a bit intimidating," Cosette agreed.

"Yeah. I'm just glad I agree with him, it would be pretty uncomfortable if I didn't," Jehan added, grinning again. "But yeah, Courfeyrac has gotten pretty close with Enjolras and another guy in that group named Combefere. I think Enjolras and Combeferre are roommates, too."

"Ah. Sounds like an interesting group so far," Cosette commented.

"Yeah, it has been so far. I'm sure it will only get more so as the year goes on, too." He sighed. "Well, I should probably get going soon. Courf was wanting to get dinner together. Glad you're doing okay, hopefully Éponine won't get after you too much."

"Yeah, I'm kind of dreading going back there," Cosette admitted, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I have no idea what I'm going to do..."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You'll be okay. And if you're not, you can always text or call me," Jehan reminded her. "You can do that if you are okay, too, not just if you're upset. Just let me know how it all goes, whatever the outcome is."

"I will. If you don't hear from me by tomorrow, just assume I'm dead," Cosette replied, getting up. "I guess I'd better go face my roommate's wrath."

"Sounds good. I hope to hear from you soon. Well, see you later Cosette!"

"Yeah, see you later Jehan." She sighed as she watched him walk away. She was reluctant to return to her room, where Éponine was likely waiting, but she knew she couldn't avoid the confrontation forever.  _I'll just get tea first or something. Just to wait a bit longer. Besides, it's not like I have to go on her schedule. None of what's going on is my fault and she's just being a jerk._

Pushing the thoughts of her roommate away, she picked her purse up from the bench and made her way to the nearest on-campus Tim Horton's. She would deal with Éponine soon enough. For now, however, she was determined to relax for a bit.

* * *

Cosette could feel her heart racing as she approached her room again, clutching what was left of her tea. As much as she had tried to relax while sitting in the library, studying while sipping tea, her mind had kept wandering back to Éponine.  _I don't want to go now, but I'll just keep worrying if I don't get it over with..._  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in. She tried to be as quiet as possible, hoping that Éponine wouldn't notice her return, but unfortunately she did.

"You're back." Her voice was cold, and Cosette felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Yes, I am. You wanted to talk to me about something?" She set her tea down and folded her arms beneath her chest, her teeth sinking once again into the left corner of her bottom lip.

"Yes. Marius." Éponine walked over to her, her eyes somehow colder than her voice had been.

"Who?" Cosette asked, raising an eyebrow. Part of her assumed that Marius must be the name of the man she had run into that Éponine was so upset about, but as Jehan had reminded her earlier there was still a possibility that it was someone else and the whole thing had been a coincidence. She was desperately hoping that it was the latter.

"Marius. A really good friend of mine," Éponine explained, her eyes narrowing.

"Is he the one that you were upset about before running out the other day?" Cosette asked. "Why do you want to talk to me about it?"  _Please oh please let me have been wrong in my conclusion. Please let some other guy have run into a different girl in a brown cardigan around the same time on the same day..._  She knew the odds were beyond slim, especially since she was almost certain that it had been the same man who had been sitting next to Éponine in class, but she couldn't help but desperately hope that she was somehow wrong.

Éponine frowned. "Yes, he is. I- I've been interested for a while and then he ran into you..."

"How do you know he ran into me?"  _Is she stalking me now? It's freaky enough that she went through my things, just what is her problem?_

"We were planning to hang out the other day and when he got here his head was in the clouds and all he could talk about was some brunette in a brown cardigan that he ran into on his way over." Her gaze became darker, shifting from simply narrowed eyes to a full on glare. "And then you showed up matching his description exactly."

"Well, I did run into someone that day," she stammered. "Tall? Light brown hair? Hazel eyes? He was carrying books?"

Éponine nodded. "Yes, that's Marius." She continued glaring.

Cosette shifted uncomfortably. "I don't even know him. Why would he be interested in me? We didn't even talk, I just helped him pick up his books after we ran into each other and that was it. There's nothing there, really."

She hoped to God that Éponine couldn't tell that her heart was beating faster and that there was a flicker of excitement at the knowledge that the man she had met –  _Marius_  – was equally interested in her. As much as she wanted to avoid giving Éponine more of a reason to hate her, she couldn't help but feel pleased and relieved that he did feel the same way.

Éponine was still glaring at her, however, and it was making her more and more uncomfortable. "Just stay away from him. You've made my life into more than enough of a mess without snatching him up, too."

"Why would I even see him again? The whole thing was nothing but an accident."  _And in what world did I make a mess of_ her _life? She's the one that bullied me while I was in foster care with her parents, and sh was always spoiled as a child. What did I ever do to her?_ She didn't state the second issue out loud, however. Éponine was mad enough as it was.

"Good. Keep it that way." To her relief, Éponine went back to her side of the room and said nothing else, and she quickly grabbed her phone to let Jehan know what had happened.

_This entire situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Why would anyone get that upset over a guy? Though he really is handsome, and he did seem pretty sweet... Maybe he is worth that much fuss._  She quickly pushed those thoughts aside, though. It couldn't be worth it, not for her. Not with Éponine as her roommate.  _Besides, like I told her, I'm probably not going to see him again, even if we are in the same class. And I promised papa that I'd focus on school, no boyfriends._  She sighed as she typed out a text for Jehan.  _It feels like every time I think things can't get any worse, they do. I'm almost afraid to wonder what will happen next..._ She finished the text and sent it before lying back on her bed, staring up at her ceiling.

One thing had already become abundantly clear to her: it was going to be a long school year.


	7. Chapter 7

Cosette did not sleep well at all that night, or the next one. Éponine's anger had gotten to her, and every time she closed her eyes she could see Marius' face far too clearly, even though they had only met once for a few moments. She was frustrated that it wouldn't go away, as all she wanted was to get through the year and never see Éponine again after, and getting involved with Marius – who she had still only had a single, very brief conversation with – would be counterproductive to that goal.

Additionally, Éponine had only left their room for classes and meals since her return, though she hadn't actually spoken to Cosette since aggressively insisting that she stay away from Marius. Words were hardly needed, however, as the cold stares and stony silence were more than enough to leave her feeling anxious and vulnerable.

She spent the weekend wrapped up in her blankets watching Netflix and doing her readings, occasionally texting with Jehan, and feeling grateful that Éponine at least wasn't attacking her any more, even if the silence was highly uncomfortable. The next week of classes passed uneventfully, and on Friday, one month into the school year, Cosette met Jehan's roommate, Courfeyrac.

"Jehan! You didn't tell me your girlfriend was so pretty," he commented as Cosette entered their dorm room. Jehan's face turned red instantly. Cosette felt her stomach twist instantly. She and Jehan had planned a movie night for that evening, just the two of them, as his roommate was supposed to be going on a date. The last thing she had expected was a third person, particularly one that she didn't know.

"She's not my girlfriend, Courfeyrac, we're just friends," he replied quickly.

"And she's also a girl. A girl, and your friend. Girlfriend."

Jehan sighed. "Cosette, this is Courfeyrac, my roommate. Courfeyrac, this is Cosette, my friend from class." Cosette noticed very quickly that he smiled just as much as Jehan did, though it was a different sort of smile. Where Jehan was kind and friendly, Courfeyrac seemed more confident and self-assured, though not unkind. "He's joining us for movie night now, apparently."

"Yeah, my date had to cancel last minute so I'm stuck with you two." Cosette looked at him, curious. It was the kind of wording that Éponine would use, but where her tone ranged from passive-aggressive to vicious, Courfeyrac's was more joking and friendly, and instead of a scowl he was grinning. "Honestly I think your movie night might be more interesting anyway, though. Finally get to meet the fabulous Cosette that Jehan won't shut up about."

Cosette blushed a bit.  _Jehan keeps talking about me?_

"Courf, will you please dial it back a bit and stop freaking her out?" Jehan asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm just trying to make her feel welcome!" Courfeyrac protested. "I'm complimenting her."

"Because nothing says 'welcome' like insisting she's my girlfriend and then saying I never stop talking about her..." Jehan muttered sarcastically.

"Exactly," Courfeyrac replied, a huge grin on his face. Jehan facepalmed. "I'm letting her know she's already part of the family." Cosette simply continued staring at him, baffled by the behaviour. Courfeyrac looked over at Jehan. "She does talk, right?"

"Oh, uh, yes, I do talk," Cosette stammered, finally finding her voice. "It's, uh, nice to meet you?"

"Nice to finally meet you too, Cosette," Courfeyrac replied, still grinning. "You're the only friend Jehan's made without my help, pretty impressive." Jehan rolled his eyes again.

"Oh, well, so far he's the only friend I've made at all, so-"

"Ah, another shy drama student in need of my assistance to meet people. Perfect!" Courfeyrac's grin somehow managed to get bigger. "Anyway, are you in con-ed like Jehan, or just drama? He never specified."

"Oh, uh, just drama," she replied, brushing a bit of hair back over her ear.

"Ah, planning to be an actress?"

"Oh, no, not really," she stammered, caught off guard. "I'm more interested in applied theatre. You know, using theatre for social justice stuff. I'm thinking about maybe going into drama therapy? I'm not really sure yet. I mean, I love plays and musicals, but I'm more comfortable in the audience. It feels safer," she explained.

"Ah. Drama therapy. Sounds interesting. I'm in poli-sci, which is probably far less exciting than what you two get for courses. Anyway, movie night. What were you two planning to watch?"

"Probably Disney," Jehan replied.

"Sounds fun," Courfeyrac said cheerfully.

"You think everything is fun, Courf." Cosette felt her stomach twist slightly watching the two of them.  _That's exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for with a roommate... Instead I got Éponine._

"So, Cosette, Jehan says you've been having issues with your roommate?" She froze, staring at Courfeyrac like a deer in the headlights.  _Did he just read my mind?_

"Courfeyrac!" Jehan snapped, his voice higher pitched than she'd ever heard.

"He told you about that?" It took all of her effort to keep her voice even.  _Was Jehan talking about me behind my back?_

"Well, not exactly. I got bored and looked at his phone," Courfeyrac replied. "He really should put a password on it."

"You did what? Courf!"

"I saw you were getting texts from a girl, I was curious! I thought you might have scored a date and forgotten to tell me!" Courfeyrac explained quickly. "That kind of thing is important! And also a good lesson for you about using a password."

"Well, lesson learned," Jehan replied, pulling out his phone, presumably to change the settings.

"So, from the few texts I saw, you both like the same guy?" Courfeyrac asked.

"Oh, uh, not exactly. She really likes him, I don't even know him. And that was really just the tip of the iceberg, it's way more complicated than that, honestly..." She bit her lip again, hoping that her habit of doing so wasn't as obvious as she felt it was.

"Fair enough, you don't need to get into it right now," Courfeyrac replied with a shrug. "Unless of course you want to, but you just met me and I get the feeling it's a bit personal and I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh, uh, thanks."

"I think you've already made her uncomfortable, Courf," Jehan commented, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean? I was being friendly!" Cosette couldn't help but giggle. She had only just met him, but something about Courfeyrac reminded her of a puppy.  _Especially a golden retriever. like Dug, from Up._  "There, see! She thinks I'm funny!" He grinned. "We're off to a great start here."

Jehan smiled. "Well, I guess you've got a point, then. So, are we going to watch a movie then?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Cosette said excitedly, sitting next to Jehan. "So, which movie?"

"How about Beauty and the Beast?" Jehan suggested.

"The original or the remake?" Courfeyrac asked.

"The original, of course," Jehan replied. "It's much better than the remake."

"I personally thought the remake was better-" Courfeyrac started, only to be interrupted by Jehan.

"You just find Emma Watson attractive."

"Eh, I'm not gonna deny that," Courfeyrac replied with a shrug. "She's hot."

"What do you think Cosette?" Jehan asked, rolling his eyes at Courfeyrac.

"Sounds good, it's one of my favourites," she replied, smiling.

"Perfect! Original Beauty and the Beast it is," Jehan said cheerfully, getting up to put the movie on. "Oh, should I make popcorn?"

"You should  _always_  make popcorn for movies, Jehan," Courfeyrac replied sternly. "It's the second most important rule in life, right behind the 'no dying' rule."

"Of course, how silly of my to forget," Jehan replied dryly before heading to the door with a bag of popcorn. "I'll be right back then."

Courfeyrac grinned. "Sounds good. Don't get lost!"

Jehan rolled his eyes. "The microwave is just around the corner, I highly doubt I'll get lost."

"Eh, you never know. Better safe than sorry," Courfeyrac said with a shrug. Jehan simply left without further response.

"You two seem to get along pretty well," Cosette said shyly after a moment. "It's nice. I didn't realize that Jehan could be so sarcastic though."

"He wasn't for the first week," Courfeyrac explained, grinning. "I think he's just been spending too much time around me and some of my other friends and it's rubbed off on him. But yeah, he's a fun guy to live with. Even if he does talk about poetry and plants too much. But it can be interesting."

"Well, it's good that you're able to get along." Cosette smiled. "It must make life a lot easier."

"Yeah, it definitely does. I can't imagine being in your situation, that's got to be pretty unpleasant," Courfeyrac said sympathetically.

Cosette only nodded in response.

"Well, if you ever need to talk, you've obviously got Jehan, but you've got me now, too," Courfeyrac said happily. "After all, two friends are better than one."

"Oh, thanks," Cosette replied, smiling. "That's really kind of you."

"Eh, I love meeting new people and making new friends," he said cheerfully, shrugging. "And if things don't work out with that your roommate's after..."

"Courfeyrac, are you trying to ask Cosette out?" Jehan asked, walking back in with the popcorn.

"What? No! Definitely not!" he replied quickly, looking slightly embarrassed. "I was just putting it out there as a possible option. That's not the same thing!"

Jehan sighed. "Well, let's start the movie then."

Cosette smiled and allowed herself to relax as the movie started, enjoying the familiarity of one of her favourites alongside her best friend and his interesting roommate. She wasn't a entirely sure if she could really consider Courfeyrac to be a friend yet, as they had only just met, but he was certainly kind and fun to be around, and she was looking forward to getting to know him better.

The trio spent the whole evening laughing, chatting, and singing along to Disney movies, watching Tangled and The Lion King after Beauty and the Beast ended, and by the time they were finished for the evening, Cosette had completely forgotten how nervous she had felt upon first meeting Courfeyrac. She liked his sense of humour, and the way he smiled so much. If she was going to be stuck living with Éponine for the rest of the year, spending time around people as cheerful as Jehan and Courfeyrac was bound to be a blessing. No matter what happened for the rest of the year, at least she knew that could count on her new friends to be a bright spot.


	8. Chapter 8

As much as Cosette had enjoyed the movie night with Jehan and Courfeyrac, she was glad to spend the next day curled up in bed with a book. The stress she had been feeling from her conflict with Éponine left her feeling entirely drained, and spending time with her friends, as fun as it had been, had only taken more out of her. After waking up to take her medication, she had gone back to sleep until well past noon, and she had no intention of leaving the room for a long while.

Her phone was face down and abandoned on her desk, turned to silent so she wouldn't be disturbed by the vibrations – though she doubted anyone would text her, anyway, except perhaps her papa – and she was perfectly comfortable, wrapped in her blankets. Once again, she would be journeying through the world of The Last Unicorn, her favourite book.

While she had much of it memorized, having read it hundreds of times, she never tired of reading the words written, the feeling of the pages in her fingers, or even the way the book smelled. It was the best kind of familiar, the kind that could make her feel at home no matter where she was, and she adored it for that.

_The_ _unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless colour of sea foam, but rather the colour of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea..._

The door swung open, pulling Cosette out of the world that she had only just begun to enter. Éponine's voice followed, and she pulled her blankets up over her head like a tent without a second thought.

"Great, she's still asleep. I guess we'll have to be quiet, then," Éponine was muttering.

"That's fine, we're just studying, anyway, so it's not like we'd really have to worry about being loud anyway."

Cosette felt her heart stop.  _Marius_. She was almost certain it was his voice.  _Thank God Éponine thinks I'm asleep..._ She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Éponine had caught her awake when she had walked in with Marius.  _Assuming that it is, in fact, Marius..._

Then another thought occurred to her. Had Éponine  _planned_  it? Had it been her intention to have all three of them in the same room together? Was she looking for an excuse to escalate the conflict between them?  _Why would she do that? She made it very clear that she has feelings for Marius, and if what she said about Marius being so interested after that one brief meeting is true, then surely she'd know that her setup could potentially sabotage that relationship... Unless she thinks it could sabotage the potential for a relationship between him and I?_

She shifted a bit, putting her hands on her head in a futile attempt to stave off the headache that was beginning to plague her. Maybe she was just over-thinking the whole thing, and she was wrong about Éponine having an ulterior motive for bringing Marius to their room? Maybe it was just an innocent study session and her roommate wasn't actually as bad as she seemed?  _No, it's Éponine. She's been nothing but terrible to me so far, I have no reason to think that would change._

She wished desperately that she could get up and sneak out, but she was terrified of what would happen if she revealed that she wasn't actually asleep in the room. Éponine would almost certainly do something awful, and as uncomfortable as she was hiding under her blankets, the alternative seemed far worse.  _But how long can I hide here?_ What was certainly only a few minutes already felt like an eternity, and she had no idea how long the study session would be. Was there a way that she could sneak out? Éponine and Marius were busy chatting quietly with each other while studying, was there a chance that she could quietly grab her phone, bag, and slip out the door unnoticed? Perhaps she would be able to find somewhere in the library to hide and enjoy her book in peace...

She stifled a groan as she remembered that she was still wearing her pyjamas. A quick and quiet escape was almost certainly impossible. She closed her eyes and shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable, resigning herself to the fact that she would be stuck there for a while, listening to Marius and Éponine whispering to each other on the other side of the room.

The other side of the room. Of course! She mentally kicked herself as the remembered that the desks were set up in such a way that the room was divided in half and Éponine had no way to see her without coming around to her side. Carefully and quietly, she opened her book again and resumed reading. So long as she paid attention, and made sure they didn't notice her when they left, she would still be able to enjoy her book. Smiling to herself, she continued from where she had left off.

_She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing mockery. Her neck was long and slender, making her head seem smaller than it was, and the mane that fell almost to the middle of her back was as soft as dandelion fluff and as fine as cirrus. She had pointed ears and thin legs, with feathers of white hair at the ankles; and the long horn above her eyes shone and shivered with its own seashell light even in the deepest midnight. She had killed dragons with it, and healed a king whose poisoned wound would not close, and knocked down ripe chestnuts for bear cubs..._

* * *

_She is six years old, and can't understand what it is that she did wrong. Even though she has lived with them for about three years, she can never understand what it is that she has done wrong. Sometimes she wonders if the rules are made up as they go along, just so they can have an excuse to torment her. Not just the Thénardiers' own children, but the other foster kid, too. She hasn't been there as long, but Kara is almost as bad as Éponine and Azelma are, and the other two girls actually seem to like her._

_But they don't like her. Cosette knows that they don't like her, even though she doesn't know why, and she's too afraid to ask, even though she wants to understand. She has tried before, but the words never come. She can never even open her mouth to try, let alone make a sound. She just stands there, silent, looking at the ground while they scold or yell at her, and retreats into her own little world._

_This time it's because she tried to play with them. It isn't the first time she's tried, but it is the first time she's tried at school, and Éponine's anger has followed them home. A rant from Madame is inevitable, as Éponine always tells her mother when Cosette does something to upset her._

_She hugs her knees to herself as she hides in her corner, trying to drown out the horrible laughter and taunting from the other girls, who seem to be getting bigger while she becomes smaller. Her teeth find their way to the left corner of her bottom lip, one of the few methods she has of comforting herself. She doesn't remember when the habit began, but she does know that it makes her feel better, a small relief to the pain of having no friends and no place to belong, the only two things that she ever wants, having long since given up on the idea of having a family. Éponine's family has made it painfully clear that she has no mother and no father, and that she never will._

_She is six years old, and she is alone..._

* * *

"Are you just going to sleep all day then?" Éponine's voice was sharp as she spoke, pulling Cosette from the haziness of her dream. She wasn't sure whether to feel relief or dread as she returned to reality from the terrible memory that had come back in her sleep, given that both included Éponine, but at least in reality she was now an adult, and a bit more confident. Additionally, reality didn't have Madame, who had always been the worst, and likely would have been even more terrible than she remembered in the distorted, exaggerated, dream version of the memory.

"No, I'm awake," she muttered, sitting up. Much to her frustration, Éponine had apparently decided to invite herself to Cosette's side of the room, and was perched at the foot of her bed, staring at her.

"Have a nice nap?"

"Why do you care? You hate me." The sassiness of her response surprised even her, since she hadn't intended her words to come out quite so sharply, but she did her best to keep her composure.

Éponine raised an eyebrow. "Well, looks like the kitten has claws after all. You didn't have to pretend to be asleep when Marius was here, you know."

"Oh? Marius was here?"

"You may be a drama major but you're a terrible actress. You were awake and reading, I know it. You fell asleep with the book on your face and everything." Éponine picked up Cosette's copy of The Last Unicorn and smirked. "Quite amusing, really."

Cosette glared back at her. "Well, I had no interest in getting yelled at. You made it perfectly clear that you don't want me around Marius."

"You're right. I did." Éponine got up and set Cosette's book on her desk. Cosette watched her closely. "I still can't believe how crazy he is about you even though he doesn't even know your name."

"So why did you even bring him here? What are you playing at? Are you just looking for an excuse to hurt me?" Cosette looked at Éponine, desperate for an answer as she voiced her earlier concerns. She had to know what her roommate's problem was.

Éponine hesitated, looking nervous for a moment. Cosette was surprised; she had never seen Éponine hesitate, even when they had been children together. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something, but then she shrugged.

"Well, if I suddenly stopped inviting him over to study, he'd get suspicious." She bit her lip, and looked like she was concerned. Cosette considered asking her what was wrong, but decided against it.  _She'd probably just be angry at me._

"Was- was there something you were wanting to talk to me about, or did you just want to bother me?" Cosette asked after a moment. She regretted her phrasing almost immediately after, but Éponine had no sarcastic remark, much to her surprise. She almost seemed to have not heard her for a few moments.

"Oh, uh," Éponine appeared to be thinking on her feet. "Yeah, no, I just felt like bothering you."

Part of Cosette was suspicious, as Éponine appeared to be distracted by something, but she was also feeling frustrated and oddly confident. Maybe it was because of Éponine's distraction, but it seemed like as good an opportunity as any to press on and find out why the other woman hated her so much.

"Why?" she questioned. "Why do you like bothering me so much?" She cut herself off before adding 'why do you hate me so much'. As much as she wanted to understand, the words couldn't come out. Her anxiety silenced her before she could ask.

"Because it's fun," Éponine replied, "and you make an easy target." The sass was returning to her voice, and the hint of mischief was finding its way back into her eyes, making Cosette feel relieved that she hadn't added the other question. "You've always made an easy target."

"Oh," Cosette replied, looking down. Was it really that simple?

"It would be more fun if you'd fight back a bit more though. Honestly, you really are pathetic, you just let people walk all over you like a doormat." Éponine made her way back to her side of the room.

"That never bothered you when we were kids. You took all kinds of pleasure in tormenting me then." Again, she found herself full of regret the moment she spoke up.  _Why am I engaging her? She's clearly just baiting me so she can tear me down, she's always been that way._

"That was different."

"How?"

"That was about popularity. Kids are vicious."

"I know. You were one of the vicious ones." She heard Éponine snort from the other side of the room. "But it wasn't just at school, so it wasn't all about popularity."

"What, are you looking for an apology or something? Because you're not getting one. I hated you then, I still hate you now. I only apologize to the people I like."

"I don't want an apology, I just want to understand why." There was no further response from Éponine, so Cosette sighed and grabbed her book again, resigning herself to the fact that she would likely not get the explanation she longed for.

She wished real people could be as easy to understand as the characters in the books and movies that she so loved. Stories made sense, they were structured and followed rules. People in real life were not like that, though. They were unpredictable, and Éponine appeared to be one of the most unpredictable people she knew.

_It's okay, though. It's October. Reading week is in two weeks, and I can go home for a bit. The semester is almost half over. And in six months it will be April, and final exams, and then after April I never have to see Éponine again. Seven months til the whole school year is done. But for now, I just need to focus on the next two weeks._


	9. Chapter 9

To Cosette's relief, the next two weeks passed quickly and without any incident and she was soon back in her papa's car, suitcase packed, and returning home for reading week. Well, technically it was home.

A week before she had started university, her papa had moved them from Toronto to the smaller community of Niagara-on-the-Lake. They had been there a couple times together while she had been growing up, mostly for the Shaw Festival, but not nearly enough for her to be really familiar with it, and while she and her papa would live there now it wasn't really home yet.

"So, the semester has been going well so far? You haven't been keeping in contact as much in the past couple of weeks."

"Oh, yes papa, everything's going well," she replied quickly, not looking away from the window as she spoke.

"I guess you've been busy keeping up with your studies," he added. "That's good. I want to see you succeed."

"Yes, I have been."

"Any marks back yet?"

"One or two assignments."

"Good marks?"

"Yeah, both in the seventies."

"That's good, right?" her papa asked.

"Yeah, seventy to seventy-nine is a B," she replied.

"That's good. As you adjust it should only go up from there. You're doing just fine so far. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, papa," she replied, leaning her head against the window.

"You're not very talkative. Is something wrong? Have you been eating enough? Getting enough sleep?"

"I'm fine, really. I've been eating and sleeping enough, and I've got friends-"

"Friends now, not just one? Any nice girls in your program?"

"It's just Jehan, and his roommate now, too," Cosette replied. "I haven't really talked to anyone else."  _Except Éponine, and I guess sort of Marius, but I can't talk to him unless I want Éponine to get even more mad at me, and she and I will_ never _be friends._

"Two boys now?"

"Don't worry, I'm not dating either of them. They're just friends. I promise. School first, I know."

"Good, as long as you're staying focused on your studies."

"I am. I promise I won't fall behind."

"I know you won't. And do be careful with your mental health. As much as I want to see you succeed, I don't want you stressing yourself out, either," he added after a moment.

"Thanks papa," she replied quietly, unsure of what else to say.

Eventually, they arrived at the new house. It was a large, old stone house on the outskirts of the town, and she was sure that if she had been a child when they had moved she would have loved to run around exploring it and the large yard. Instead, she found herself wondering what she was going to do there for an entire week.

Growing up, she had been used to being alone and filling her time with reading, playing alone, or talking to her papa. In the past month and a half at university, however, she had quickly grown accustomed to spending time with her new friends. Her stomach twisted slightly as she got out of the car.  _It's too much change at once. Just as I'm getting used to my life at university, I have to come home for a week and it's not even home, it's this new place._

"Is something wrong, Cosette?" her papa asked as he grabbed her suitcase from the trunk.

"No, it's fine. It's just- the new house will take some getting used to," she admitted, glancing down.

"I know. I haven't unpacked everything yet, I've been waiting to do it with you. Just like old times," he said with a smile.

"Right. Just like old times," she repeated. She had long since lost count of how many houses and departments she and her papa had lived in over the years, but she was confident that she'd lived in just about every part of Toronto she could think of at one point or another. _Packing and unpacking are probably the two things I do best at this point..._

Why her papa had wanted to move around so much was beyond her, and she hoped that this would be the last time they had to move. The constant change was far too exhausting to process so frequently.

"You're sure nothing's wrong?" her papa asked again, causing her to look up. His eyes were soft, and his lips were curved down slightly in a small frown. He didn't look entirely worried yet, though he was beginning to appear concerned.

"I'm sure, papa. Like I said, I'm just tired. The last few weeks have been really busy. I just need a nap."  _And something to do other than unpacking all week so I don't die of boredom. One short essay that I've already started is_ not _going to take a full week._

"Well, let's get your stuff inside then. You can have a nice nap and then we can go out for dinner tonight. How does that sound? Or if you prefer we can stay in, find a movie to watch. Whatever you want."

"Both sound nice. I'll see how I'm feeling after my nap," she replied after a moment, trying to ignore the slight twist in her stomach.

"Of course." They both got out of the car, her papa grabbing her suitcase from the trunk before she had the chance. "Do you want me to carry your laptop and backpack up as well?"

"No, it's fine, I can get them," she said quickly, grabbing both bags.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. It's nothing, really. I carry them around school all the time, I'm sure I can get them to my room."

"Oh, of course." She wasn't sure what to make of the look he gave her in response to her pointing out how things were at school. She had a hard enough time reading what some would consider to be simpler emotions at times, this seemed almost like a mixture of surprise, disappointment, and maybe something else, but she could tell what.

_Is he mad at me?_ She knew he had been reluctant to even let her apply to university, so it didn't seem impossible. It was probably best not to say anything about it, though. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally upset him. He said nothing else on the way up to her room, much to her relief, though she found the silence to be uncomfortable in its own way as well.

It wasn't long before she was alone, lying in bed and staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She'd spent maybe a week living there before school had started, and she'd very nearly forgotten how much effort her papa had put into making her feel as spoiled as possible, setting her up in a large room with a balcony, and a queen sized bed that made her feel as though she were lying on a cloud. Her dresser and mirror were set up on the opposite wall, but nothing else was there yet.  _Though that will change this week, since he was just waiting for me to get home before unpacking._

When he had adopted her as a child, she'd been thrilled that her papa had done all he could to make her feel like a princess, and she was sure that her room in the new house would have felt like a dream come true back then, but now, as a young adult having experienced her first real taste of independence, it all felt awkward. Were her friends treated like that by their parents? She doubted it, based on her conversations with Jehan. Even with the context of the abuse she'd gone through with the Thénardiers before he had adopted her, she couldn't help but feel that her papa was overprotective to the point of excess.

_But there has to be a reason for it, right? He wouldn't be overprotective without a reason._ Her teeth sank back into her lip as she thought. There were many things she didn't know about her papa's past. He never seemed interested in talking about it, all he ever wanted to talk about was her; how she was doing, what her grades were, what she was interested in. The few times she had tried to ask his answers had been vague and short, though she'd never thought anything of it at the time. She sighed, pushing the thoughts away, resolving to go back to that issue later.

For now, she was going to enjoy her nap and have a nice evening with her papa. She finally had a break from her roommate problems, the last thing she needed was additional stress from worrying about things her papa may or may not be keeping from her. After all, it was entirely possible that he told her nothing because he found his life boring and she was getting worked up over nothing. It was like she had told him: she was just tired and stressed from school, and a nice nap would fix everything, just like it always did.


	10. Chapter 10

While most families spent their Thanksgivings preparing a turkey dinner and getting together with relatives to then eat the aforementioned turkey dinner, Cosette spent her Thanksgiving Sunday and Monday unpacking boxes with her papa and thinking more and more about how odd it was that she had never met any of his relatives. In fact, she had never even  _heard_  of any of them.

She couldn't help but feel a bit angry with herself for never having noticed how little family her papa seemed to have, though in fairness, she'd never had a normal family to compare her situation to. She'd had no real close friends until now, and her time in foster care with the Thénardiers had hardly been normal. Now that she did have close friends, and was receiving texts and pictures from them about their Thanksgiving and time with their family – particularly complaints from Courfeyrac about how incredibly annoying his younger sister was – it was becoming painfully obvious how her situation was not normal.

Nevertheless, she did her best to hold it all in. The last thing she wanted was to upset her papa during a holiday.  _But there will always be other excuses to put off the questions, won't there?_  She pushed the thought aside, just as she had with other such thoughts throughout the day, and resumed pulling things out of cardboard boxes.

It was mostly books, and a few framed pictures of the two of them together. There were no antiques or special heirlooms passed down through generations, no photo albums with pictures of her papa and his family when he had been growing up. This only served to make the unpacking even more tedious for her, at least until she pulled out a large wooden box that she had never seen before.

It was strange, until then she'd been certain that she was familiar with everything her papa owned – after all, they had moved multiple times while she had been growing up and she had  _always_ helped with the unpacking, and she had never had a social life apart from him until starting university a month and a half before. How could she have missed this box? Clearly her papa's apparent lack of a family wasn't the only secret he was keeping. Perhaps the box held a clue to that secret?

Again, she pushed the suspicious thoughts aside. Why would she know everything about her papa, even if he had been her only companion for so many years? They hadn't been together every hour of every day, after all, and she had kept her own secrets over the years – mostly crushes on fictional characters in the books she read (or, at least, she  _hoped_ that she had kept them secret) – so why should her papa not have his own secrets? She had no real reason to be suspicious. Nevertheless, her curiosity about the box was too much to bear.

"What's this?" she asked finally, looking up at him. Her papa looked almost frightened when he saw her holding it.

"It's nothing," he said quickly, grabbing the box from her.

Cosette frowned, but managed to more or less reign in her curiosity for the time being. Why was her papa being so secretive? What was he not telling her?

"Okay then," she said slowly, turning her attention back to the cardboard boxes. The entire situation just seemed to be getting more and more bizarre by the minute.  _Perhaps I'm just overthinking it. Other families have secrets too, right? Of course, other families have actual_ families _, not just a single parent with an adopted child with no sign of any other family members._ She sighed as she opened another box of books. She didn't know what to think of the situation any more.

"How about we go for a walk tomorrow?" her papa asked suddenly, making her look up again. "I think I've found a nice park. We can go check it out, have a nice afternoon together. Just like old times."

"Yeah. Just like old times..." It was painfully obvious that he was just trying to distract her, but she was glad to go along with it. She couldn't bear the thought of disappointing him, and as a wide smile crossed his face at her agreement, she felt her stomach twist.

"Are you alright Cosette?" She wished that he could be at least a little bit less perceptive than he was. She didn't know what would be worse, admitting her concerns about the secrecy, or lying to him about it. She settled for the latter.

"I'm fine, I guess I'm just a little tired still." It wasn't a complete lie, she'd had some trouble sleeping the night before, as she always did in a new environment.

"Why don't you go have a nap then? I'll finish with these boxes myself."

"Are you sure papa? It's really no trouble, and we always do the unpacking together, after all-"

"Go nap. You need the rest." He continued smiling at her, but the stern look in his eyes and his tone of voice made it clear that there was no point in arguing or trying to stay to help. He was far more stubborn than she was, and always had been.

She got up and headed for her room, pausing briefly to kiss his cheek. Perhaps a nap really was all that she needed. Yes, that was it. She was just tired from school and dealing with so many new things, and it had made her paranoid. That was the perfect explanation. She flopped on her bed, grabbing her phone to check it briefly and set an alarm. She had two texts from Jehan, one a picture of a small cactus, the other a picture of his rat, Flora. There was also a snapchat from Courfeyrac, a video of him rolling his eyes and looking incredibly annoyed while his sister gushed about some boy from her high school.

She smiled as she set the phone aside and curled up under her blankets. A nap was all that she needed, and everything would be fine.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was the perfect day for a walk. The sky was a soft blue, dotted with clouds that were more white than grey, it was just under twenty degrees Celsius with a gentle breeze, and all the leaves were in their beautiful autumn colours of orange and gold. It was Cosette's favourite time of year – though she would often say similar about winter, spring, and summer as well.

The weather was rarely too hot or too cold in autumn, instead hovering at a temperature that was just perfect, and the scenery was always beautiful with the leaves changing colour. Furthermore, while the rain in autumn was almost always the annoying cold type of rain that made things unpleasant, unlike the nice rain that sometimes comes in the summer, there were few things nicer than curling up with a sweater, blanket, and warm cup of tea while sitting by a window watching a thunderstorm, especially in autumn. Summer was always too hot and humid for that, even during thunderstorms. The tea would work, but it just wasn't the same without the sweater and blanket.

The park her papa had found was a lovely field, dotted with trees and a single gazebo with shrubs and flowers growing around it. There was a walking path as well, which ran alongside Lake Ontario. There was a small area that looked as though it might serve as a beach area in summer, though she wasn't sure. A sign told her it was "Queen's Royal Park," and she had to admit it was quite lovely.

They mostly walked together in silence, save for the occasional comment about how nice the weather was and how pretty the park was. Eventually, they stopped to sit on a bench and look out over the lake. The water was calm and blue that day, with few waves. There were a few ducks swimming together, which Cosette watched with fascination. She had always found them – and all animals, for that matter – adorable. She was so focused on watching them swim that she almost didn't notice him walking by. She would have missed him entirely, in fact, if he hadn't stopped and stared at her.

It was mostly her papa's sudden change from relaxed to tense that drew her attention away from the ducks. She had noticed someone standing still out the corner of her eye, but had thought nothing of it. However, as she looked up to see what had bothered her papa, she froze. It was Marius. She was certain of it.

He had the same wavy, light brown hair, and same handsome face, though he was too far away for her to tell if his eyes were the same ones that she remembered and pictured every night, hazel with flecks of green. The way her heart leapt to her throat as her stomach fluttered with nervousness solidified her suspicion that it was Marius, however. She felt her heart race.  _He was staring at her_.

Did this mean that he remembered her? Of course he remembered her, Éponine had thrown a full fit over it all. Of course, that was assuming that the whole thing wasn't just a coincidence and the man she had met was not her horrible roommate's friend, which she really had to admit was a huge stretch, however much she wished it were true.

But what should she do? Should she go and talk to him? Why was he just staring at her like that? Did he expect her to notice and go talk to him? The way his cheeks appeared to be turning red, he had clearly noticed that she had noticed his staring, but he was still just standing there. Was he trying to think of something to say?

Unfortunately, her papa chose that exact moment to get up. Her heart sank.

"Come Cosette, it's time to head home," he said, his eyes also on Marius.

She sighed and nodded, standing as well. Her papa quickly headed back the way they had come, though Cosette paused to give Marius a shy, quick smile before following. She was almost certain that he had returned her smile. Hopefully they would be able to walk in this park again if this was a place he liked to go.  _No, you're making assumptions Cosette. It's just one brief meeting in a park. It doesn't mean anything._

Regardless of the logic she tried to point out to herself – not to mention the fact that she was slightly afraid of her roommate who had more or less already staked a claim on the man – the hope remained. The one difficulty would be her papa, given how he had reacted upon noticing Marius' staring, but attractive young man or not, she doubted he would be too hard to convince to go for walks in a park since he never seemed to tire of spending time with her.  _But what if he isn't there next time?_  She forced the concern from her mind. Worst case scenario she'd have had a lovely walk with her papa, which was far from being something horrible. She quite enjoyed spending time with him.

Her mind was made up. She would do whatever she could to ensure that they had another walk in the same park each day for the rest of the week. Éponine would likely kill her if she knew, but she wasn't around anyway, and the two were absolutely not friends, not by a long shot. Besides, it couldn't hurt to just  _look_ , could it?

* * *

Dinner that night was silent, as it was most nights. Most nights it was a comfortable silence, however. Tonight felt more uncomfortable than anything. Eventually, it was broken by her papa.

"That boy in the park. Do you know him?" he asked. Cosette froze, staring down at her plate.

"I- no, I don't know him. Why do you ask?" she asked, hoping her papa didn't notice she was blushing. She was almost certain her face was red, and she had no desire to try to explain it.

"The way he was looking at you. It was odd."

"Oh? I didn't notice." It was a lie, which she hated, but as much as she loved her papa the last thing she wanted was to have this particular conversation with him.

"Perhaps he simply mistook you for someone else."

"Probably, it wouldn't be the first time." She was relieved he hadn't commented on how red her face was. She looked up, and felt immediately uncomfortable at his expression. He was clearly skeptical about her replies, even if he wasn't saying anything. She tried to resist the urge to chew on the corner of her lip, but found it impossible. Years of habit would always win. Her stomach twisted as well. Why did she feel so guilty over one small lie?

"You look tired. Why don't you get some rest? I can handle the dishes," he said after a few agonizingly long moments.

She nodded silently, but hesitated a moment before getting up. "Are you sure papa? I don't mind helping."

"No, get some sleep. You look like you need it." She nodded again.

"Oh, could we maybe go for another walk tomorrow? The park was really nice today." He didn't answer her immediately, and she panicked, briefly thinking that she had brought it up too soon after his comments about Marius. He would almost certainly see right through her, and know that she was looking to see him again. "The view of the lake was nice, and I liked the flowers," she added rather lamely.

Her papa smiled, however, much to her relief. "Of course. I always enjoy our walks. You're sure you want to go to that park again though? There are plenty of other ones."

He was onto her. She was almost positive. Nevertheless, he was still giving her the option to choose the same park. Deciding to try her luck, she nodded. "Yes, I want to go to that park again."

"Okay. Just let me know when you want to go. Goodnight, Cosette." He was still smiling, to her relief. Maybe he wasn't quite as suspicious as she had thought. She walked over and kissed his cheek.

"Goodnight, papa. I love you."

He continued smiling as she turned to go up to bed. As she reached her room, she let out a breath that she hadn't realized that she had been holding. It was fine. Everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about, or at least not as much as she had been. Yes, her papa was clearly skeptical, but he was still willing to go for a walk with her in the same park. There was a chance that she would see Marius again the next day. The fluttering feeling returned to her stomach. He had definitely recognized her earlier, and he had been smiling.

_Oh, please, please let me see him again tomorrow..._  She flopped on her head, staring at the ceiling. There was a chance she would see him again. Her heart sank as the reality sank in, however.

He was friends with Éponine, and they had been friends before university. She stifled a groan. With any luck, she would be able to avoid her roommate for the rest of reading week. She sighed. Hopefully, she would have that luck, but she doubted that she would.


	12. Chapter 12

Neither Marius nor Éponine were anywhere to be seen when they arrived in the park the following day, the former to her disappointment, and the latter to her great relief. Perhaps the day before had been nothing more than a coincidence, or she had imagined it. Cosette quickly dismissed the latter thought, however. Of course she hadn't imagined it. Her papa had clearly seen him too, after all, and how could she have hallucinated a person? Or maybe today was the coincidence, and it just happened to be the one day that he was in town and not there at the park, or perhaps he would show up later and she just had to wait? Regardless, she was already feeling silly for having bothered to take so long deciding which tank top and cardigan to wear, fussing with her hair, and even bothering to wear makeup – all of which had caused her papa to raise an eyebrow.

"Is there something on your mind, Cosette?" Her papa's voice brought her out of the rapid questions swirling through her head.

"Oh, no, I'm just thinking about how nice it is to be out for a walk with you," she replied quickly. The feeling of discomfort returned at the lie, but as guilty as she felt, the idea of talking to him about her thoughts and feelings for a boy – especially one she had only briefly met – was just too much. She was confident that it would be even more uncomfortable than the lies were.

"It is nice, isn't it?" He smiled as they continued walking. She wondered, not for the first time, exactly what was going on in his head. Was he suspicious of her lies? She wished that she could stop wondering about it, and hoped that the feelings of guilt and anxiety around it wouldn't plague her for the entirety of reading week.

"Yeah, really nice." She struggled once more with the urge to chew on her lip, her teeth finding their way to the same place they always did, but this time only momentarily before she caught herself. The desire to give into the habit was almost unbearable.

"Are you sure everything is okay, Cosette?" her papa asked her. Why did he have to ask her that every day? It was even more unbearable than her attempt to quit her lip biting habit.

"Yes papa, it's just-" She cut herself off. What could she tell him that would be believable? Her teeth sank into the bottom left corner of her lip, and she didn't even care about stopping herself this time. He was looking at her, she knew it without even checking, and she was sure that his concern would be written all over his face. As much as she struggled with reading other people, her papa included, she'd been living with him long enough to know when he was worried about her, especially since he always had the same expression when he was. It was just part of the routine.

"Cosette? You know you can tell me anything."  _But can I really?_   She sighed, and finally looked at him. She had been right, it was the exact same worried look that he always had, clearly concerned for her but so serious that it almost made her more anxious.

"It's just, well... It's hard," she began carefully. "There's a lot of adjusting, and it's not easy. It's just going to take a lot of time. I'll get used to it eventually, I'm sure, it's just- new people, new places, a new routine. A lot of new things. I'll figure it out. I want to figure it out." It wasn't a lie, it was all true, it just wasn't the full truth, just like the night before. She was telling him part of the story without revealing everything. She had a feeling that this would be the new normal in their relationship, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She pushed her hair behind her ear. "Does that make sense?"

He nodded. "Yes, I suppose it does. But you know you don't have to deal with it alone, right? I want to help you, Cosette. You can talk to me about things. I want you to talk to me. I don't want to see you stress yourself out and get overwhelmed."

"I know papa." She bit her lip again, holding back the  _but_. Of course he still saw her as helpless. She doubted that it would ever change. He smiled at her again, clearly attempting to be reassuring. She forced a smile in return before turning to resume the walk, only to collide with another person.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," a young man said at the exact same time as she began to apologize.

"No, it's my fault, I wasn't looking..." she trailed off as their eyes met. Her heart raced as she recognized the hazel eyes that had been haunting her dreams since they'd first met. Not that it had really counted as 'meeting' since they had really just run into each other and barely spoken. They hadn't even learned each other's names, and she only knew his name since he was friends with Éponine... Her heart sank. Éponine was right next to him.

The look on her roommate's face was darker than any she had seen before, and another glance at Marius and the smile on his face provided more than enough explanation for it. She may be terrible at reading people, but there was absolutely no mistaking the situation. This was all the confirmation she needed to know that however much she may have wished it were a coincidence, Éponine's friend Marius was indeed the same man she had run into that day a few weeks before. Her heart raced more as the realization sank in. Her palms were sweating. Going to the park with her papa again that day had definitely been a terrible idea.

Her papa. He was right there, walking next to her. There was no way he wouldn't have questions... She forced herself to try to look as composed as possible, her eyes quickly darting back to the ground.

"Sorry," she said again quickly, passing Marius and Éponine quickly and refusing to look behind her. She was sure her voice had been an octave higher than her initial apology, and there was no way it didn't sound panicked. She tried not to think about it. All she could do was hope that her papa wouldn't try to ask her questions about what had definitely been a bizarre response to bumping into someone who should have been a stranger.

"Cosette?" Of course she would have no such luck. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, papa," she replied quickly. She mentally kicked herself. Despite her words she was obviously not fine, her voice made it far too clear, as did her actions from moments before.

"Are you sure? You don't look well. We can go home if you want." As frustrated as she was by the situation, she was grateful that he at least wasn't prodding her with questions about  _why_  she had panicked so much from bumping into them.  _Those questions will probably come when we get home though..._

"No, not yet," she replied. "Let's just sit for a while." She wasn't sure what she dreaded more, going home to more questioning or risking another run in with Marius and Éponine. Both seemed equally bad in the moment, and sitting and staying put at least meant a chance of at least temporarily avoiding both options. Her papa mercifully didn't question her further, instead nodding and going with her to sit on a bench.

The two simply sat in silence, Cosette staring straight ahead at the lake. She couldn't stop her mind from racing, going over every single minute detail of the interaction she had just had with Marius and Éponine. There was no way he could possibly see her as anything but an idiot after that, aside from unbearably awkward, perhaps. It was probably both. Her stomach was twisting uncomfortably. She wanted to go home, but the twisting got worse when she thought of the possibility of running into the two again. Even worse, Éponine would most certainly mock her relentlessly upon their return after reading week ended. She couldn't bear the thought.

She was spiraling out of control again and she knew it and hated it. Why was it so hard to keep her mind under control for even a little while? Silence had never felt so uncomfortable, and she found herself almost wishing that her papa  _would_ say something, even if it were about the situation, just to break the silence and make her mind stop racing.

How long had they been sitting there? It felt like it had been an eternity, but surely it had only been a few minutes. Was that long enough? Would they be gone? Was it safe to leave? She felt nauseous and dizzy, and she was almost certainly shaking. She could feel her papa looking at her again.

"Let's go home, you're not well," he said finally, his insistent tone making it clear that the topic was not up for debate. She nodded meekly. It must have been long enough, Marius and Éponine  _had_  to be gone by now.

Cosette and her papa stood again and walked back the way the had come, with no sign of either Marius or her nightmare of a roommate, much to her relief. The anxiety remained, however, and she dreaded the return home. She had acted far too weird, her papa would interrogate her for sure. He would find out everything, and insist on pulling her out of school and her life would be over. He had barely been fine with the fact that Éponine was her roommate, if he knew that they had been fighting, and that there was a boy involved, he would never let her leave the house again.

To her surprise and confusion, however, the interrogation never came. There were no questions all the way home, nor after they got through the door. There were only instructions to go up to bed and get all the rest that she needed. Cosette felt some relief as she lay down her bed, grateful for the silence and the comfort of her warm blankets. She was off the hook, at least for a little while. The questions were bound to come at some point, and she had no clue how she would respond to them, but at least for that afternoon, she would get somewhat of a break.


End file.
